Hut 8, a Bitcoin
mining company, secured a 15‑year lease worth $7 billion to provide 245 megawatts of artificial intelligence (AI) data center capacity at its River Bend campus in Louisiana.
Construction has already started, with the first data hall expected to be complete by the second quarter of 2027. Additional halls should go online during the following year.
According to a December 17 announcement, the lease was made possible through a deal with infrastructure operator Fluidstack. In this setup, Google serves as a financial backstop.
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If Fluidstack is unable to meet lease payments or other related obligations, Google will step in to cover those costs.
Funding for the River Bend project will come from loans tied to the data center. Several major banks are expected to finance most of the construction expenses. This approach reduces the upfront capital Hut 8 needs to commit.
Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot stated:
River Bend reflects the strength of Hut 8’s power-first, innovation-driven development model, validated by the world-class counterparties we are executing alongside.
Additionally, Noah Wintroub, global chairman of investment banking at JPMorgan, described the agreement as evidence of lasting value when innovative ideas meet teamwork and financial discipline.
This agreement expands Hut 8’s presence in the AI infrastructure industry, an initiative launched in September 2024 when the company introduced its GPU‑as‑a‑Service option through its Highrise AI unit.
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