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Power over tokens: Why AI is changing crypto valuations
For a long time, the value of crypto companies was closely tied to traditional indicators such as trading volumes, digital asset holdings, mining income and assets under management.
Investors generally judged these firms by their exposure to Bitcoin, Ether and the broader growth of blockchain technology.
That view now appears to be changing.
In June 2026, shares of Galaxy Digital rose sharply as investors focused on a different part of the business: artificial intelligence infrastructure. The rally drew attention to a pattern taking shape in public markets. Some crypto companies are finding that Wall Street may value their access to power, land and data centers more than their traditional crypto activities.
This shift points to a bigger change in financial markets. As demand for artificial intelligence grows, the infrastructure needed to support AI models has become one of the world’s most valuable resources. In some cases, crypto firms already control the exact assets that AI companies want.
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The Galaxy Digital rally that caught crypto investors off guard
Galaxy Digital has long been a major player in digital assets, with businesses across trading, asset management, venture investments and blockchain infrastructure.
Yet the driver of its recent share price increase was not Bitcoin prices, ETF inflows or wider crypto trading activity.
Instead, investors focused on the company’s Helios campus in Texas. The site is a major data center project being developed for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Comments from Galaxy Digital’s management suggested that Helios could eventually make up a meaningful share of the company’s total value. Market observers appeared to agree. Instead of viewing Galaxy Digital only as a crypto firm, investors began to assess it as an AI infrastructure company.
The rally showed a clear change in how investors value some crypto businesses. A company built on digital assets suddenly gained market attention for its possible role in the AI sector.
Did you know? Bitcoin miners once competed for cheap electricity. Now AI companies are competing for the same resource. In many regions, access to power has become more valuable than access to graphics processing units (GPUs) themselves. Some utilities have reported years-long waiting lists for large AI data center projects seeking grid connections.
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Why AI infrastructure is now so valuable
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence has created a new bottleneck. The main challenge is no longer just building more advanced AI models. It is also securing enough computing capacity to train and run them.
Modern AI systems need large numbers of GPUs, specialized networking equipment, advanced cooling systems and huge amounts of electricity. Building the sites that house this equipment is now one of the most expensive projects in the technology sector.
As a result, investors are paying more attention to the companies that provide this core infrastructure, not just the companies building AI applications.
Data centers have become essential tools for AI growth.
This explains the strong investor interest in infrastructure-focused companies. Businesses that control power supplies, grid connections and large computing sites hold assets that are difficult and expensive to copy.
To Wall Street, those qualities often point to long-term revenue potential and more stable financial returns.
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Why some crypto companies are well positioned
Some crypto companies are well positioned because they already share key infrastructure needs with the AI sector.
At first glance, crypto operations and artificial intelligence may seem like completely different fields. Yet both depend on one essential resource: massive computing capacity.
Over time, Bitcoin mining operations and other crypto infrastructure businesses invested heavily in sites built for high power demand. They acquired suitable land, secured power supply agreements, installed advanced cooling systems and connected directly to electrical grids.
These same resources are now attracting interest from AI companies.
An AI data center is not the same as a crypto mining operation. Still, the two share several core requirements, including high electricity use, large physical sites and enough space for specialized equipment. This overlap has created an unexpected opportunity.
In some cases, AI operators can work with existing facilities that were first built for crypto. That can help them avoid the cost and delay of building new sites from scratch.
As a result, some crypto firms now hold valuable assets in the growing AI infrastructure market.
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Helios and Galaxy Digital’s changing strategy
Galaxy Digital’s Helios campus shows how infrastructure originally tied to Bitcoin mining can be redirected toward AI computing. After acquiring the site from Argo Blockchain in 2022, Galaxy Digital began shifting Helios toward high-performance computing and AI data…
cointelegraph.com