SWI Group is preparing data centers formerly used for bitcoin mining to compete for artificial-intelligence and cloud-computing customers. The company has become the majority owner of Genesis Digital Assets and raised €800 million to upgrade and expand its infrastructure.
Power capacity becomes the prize
SWI hopes to market Genesis Digital sites in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Sweden to hyperscale cloud providers. The company says Genesis Digital has more than 1.3 gigawatts of energized or approved grid connections across 15 facilities. Combined with another SWI unit, AiOnX, the group claims access to more than 3.6 gigawatts.
Chief Executive Max-Hervé George told The Wall Street Journal that he has “zero interest” in bitcoin mining. SWI is selling Genesis Digital’s final three small mining sites in Kazakhstan while it pursues the data-center pivot. The company has not disclosed a signed hyperscaler customer, a conversion schedule or any live AI workload at the former mining sites.
The FTX connection
Alameda Research, the trading firm closely tied to FTX, invested more than $1 billion in Genesis Digital beginning in 2021 and ended up with a 20% stake. After FTX collapsed, its bankruptcy estate sued to recover $1.15 billion, calling the miner one of Sam Bankman-Fried’s most reckless investments.
The estate dropped that lawsuit on June 15, the same day SWI announced a $500 million purchase of a major stake. SWI later expanded the position to majority ownership. George said disputes involving FTX and other shareholders had been settled, but the parties did not disclose the settlement terms.
