Core Scientific sells $208 million worth of BTC in Q1 and turns to AI: CoreWeave backs it with a 12-year contract

Core Scientific (Nasdaq: CORZ) reported its 2026 Q1 earnings on May 6 (U.S. time), confirmed the sale of BTC worth $208 million this quarter, and converted its mining infrastructure into AI data center lease arrangements for rent income. CoinDesk compiled the key points for the quarter: BTC sold for $208 million, consistent with the Q1 liquidation plan the company previewed in March. At the same time, it locked in a 12-year contract with CoreWeave covering about 590 MW across five data centers, with total contract revenue of more than $10 billion. Core Scientific’s stock rose 10.64% to $22.19 during the day and climbed another 5.9% to $23.50 after hours.

Q1 sells BTC worth $208 million: sold 1,900 BTC in January alone for $175 million

The confirmed BTC disposal figures in this earnings report:

Total BTC sold worth $208 million in Q1

Of which, in January alone, 1,900 BTC were sold for $175 million

Purpose of the sale: to provide cash flow for the AI data center transformation

In March, the company publicly announced its Q1 liquidation plan, and this earnings report confirms execution of that plan

Core Scientific’s strategy for disposing of BTC, as well as the Strategy reported by abmedia on 5/6—suggesting that Saylor, former CEO of MicroStrategy, may be loosening his stance on selling BTC, and Eric Trump’s American Bitcoin emphasizing that “no BTC were sold during Q1”—create three distinct stances among listed companies on BTC: liquidation, possibly selling, and insisting on not selling.

AI transformation results: 12-year CoreWeave contract, 590 MW across five data centers

A highlight of this earnings report is the concrete progress on the AI data center transformation contracts:

Total customer power feeder pipeline available of about 3.0 GW

Signed contract revenue exceeding $10 billion, primarily under the 12-year CoreWeave contract

The CoreWeave contract covers 5 locations, totaling about 590 MW of IT capacity

Location breakdown: Denton, Texas about 260 MW; Dalton, Georgia about 175 MW; Muskogee, Oklahoma about 70 MW; Marble, North Carolina about 65 MW; Austin, Texas about 20 MW

CoreWeave is a public company specializing in AI cloud GPU services, with revenue highly dependent on the supply of NVIDIA GPUs and on renting out compute power; Core Scientific provides the site and power, and the contract structure follows the standard model of a mining company giving up infrastructure in exchange for long-term stable AI lease revenue.

Financials: revenue YoY -40%, gross margin 10%, stock price up 10% in a single day

Two directions for Core Scientific’s financial metrics this quarter:

Revenue over the past 12 months down 40%—mining revenue rapidly shrinking, while AI contract revenue has not yet been reflected in the books

Gross margin over the past 12 months only 10%—cost pressures during the transformation period

The stock rose 10.64% to $22.19 intraday and then climbed another 5.9% to $23.50 after hours on the same day—market’s positive reaction to the contract signings, not concerned with near-term numbers

The market and the company’s expectation is that “AI contract revenue needs time to be recognized”—in 2027, as CoreWeave powers up sites in various locations, the revenue mix will change materially. The 12-year CoreWeave contract represents long-term revenue visibility and is the main driver behind the stock’s reaction.

Specific events to track next: CoreWeave’s site power-up and delivery schedule; the contract progress for other customers besides CoreWeave within the 3.0 GW pipeline; and whether Core Scientific will issue additional bonds to fund the capital expenditures for building the AI data centers (the company announced in April that it is seeking $3.3 billion in bond issuance).

This article about Core Scientific selling BTC worth $208 million in Q1 to pivot to AI: the 12-year CoreWeave contract as a foundation first appeared on Lianxin ABMedia.