Crypto mining stocks post one of the worst quarters in years

Crypto mining stocks showed relative strength compared to BTC and other sectors, but could not escape the pressure of falling revenues. Most of the leading mining companies ended Q1 with losses.

The weakened performance of mining stocks also served as a gauge for crypto sentiment. The diminished mining activity and revenues, as well as the selling of treasuries, suggest crypto mining may be phased out or left for legacy purposes. 

The weakening mining revenues may weigh down most of the AI pivot stocks, diminishing the potential returns from future AI data centers. 

Mining revenues are dropping significantly, while BTC hovers around $77,000. As of May 2026, there are less than 100,000 BTC blocks to the next halving in April 2028, which will cut the block reward to around 1.6 BTC.

Can crypto mining stocks still benefit from BTC?

Crypto mining companies often retain their mining fleets, while also planning their AI compute centers. Most companies have well-established access to local power grids. 

Mining is also a flexible activity, which can be switched on or off depending on profitability. A shift to AI may mean a weakening competition among miners, and more profits for remaining mining facilities. As Cryptopolitan reported, most mining companies aim to accelerate their shift to AI compute. 

Currently, Cipher Mining and HUT-8 are outperforming BTC strongly, while other mining stocks have an almost direct correlation with the price of BTC. Crypto mining stocks may remain flexible, offering bigger upside than crypto. Those stocks may benefit from both AI growth and a crypto recovery. 

As of May 2026, miners can reach breakeven if they have access to extremely cheap electricity of $0.02 per KWH. Most miners cannot access those lower prices, and only produce blocks in distress. Most miners have been producing BTC in distress since March, based on the hash ribbon indicator. 

Which crypto mining stocks are the outliers? 

Some crypto mining stocks invite additional attention. IREN (Nasdaq: IREN) is still up 447% for the past 12 months, although weakening to $47.76 in the past weeks. 

The outliers as of May 19 include TerraWulf (Nasdaq: WULF), up 85% for the year to date. 

Other top gainers for 2026 include HUT, RIOT, CORZ, APLD, and CLSK. Mining stocks are still closely watched for potentially viable AI pivots and additions of AI centers alongside mining locations.