Core Scientific to acquire bitcoin miner Polaris in $421 million deal to expand Oklahoma AI data center campus

Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ) has acquired Polaris DS LLC, an Oklahoma-based bitcoin miner, for $421 million, according to an announcement on Wednesday. 

The deal will provide Core with 440 megawatts of contracted power Polaris had through Oklahoma Gas & Electric, allowing Core to rapidly scale its AI operations. 

CORZ is up 8.98% to $23.98 on Wednesday morning. This makes it the fifth-largest gainer in The Block’s list of crypto-related stocks, following Hut8, which is up nearly 30%, Riot, up 12%, as well as Bitdeer and Bitfarms, both up over 8.5%. 

Bitcoin miners have increasingly leaned into broader data center services, particularly geared towards energy-intensive high-performance computing and AI. 

Firms like Core and Galaxy are in the process of scaling up their infrastructure to meet the forecasted demand for computing power. In this instance, the physical and contractual assets bitcoin miners had acquired are increasingly attractive strategic targets. 

Core’s acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2026, subject to regulatory approval. Polaris’ 40-acre campus is energized and actively operating, and adjacent to Core’s Muskogee operations, including a substation and electric service agreements with OG&E.

"Our multi-tiered approach in Muskogee demonstrates how we can combine acquisitions, development expertise, and innovative power solutions to unlock gigawatt-scale capacity,” Core CEO Adam Sullivan said. “As our second expansion applying this approach, we are demonstrating the scalability of our model while growing a strategically important campus to support a broad range of high-density compute deployments."

Core has been aggressively shifting from Bitcoin mining and offloading its once sizable BTC treasury. The firm reportedly has a pipeline targeting several gigawatts of leasable capacity for high-density colocation services for AI and compute-intensive workloads by converting and expanding its existing mining facilities across Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.

The firm has started construction on a new 82.5 MW facility at Muskogee, adding to its existing 70 MW operation, with delivery expected in Q4 2027. It ultimately aims to supply 1 GW of leasable power through the campus. 

Core’s latest quarterly report showed total revenue dropped to $79.8 million from $94.9 million year-over-year as it works through its transformation. Bitcoin mining revenue dropped to $42 illion in Q4 2025 from $79 million in the same quarter the year prior, as colocation revenue rose to $31 million from $8.5 million.

Earlier this year, Core announced a $3.3 billion private debt offering via senior secured notes as well as loans totaling $1 billion from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley.

Last October, Core Scientific shareholders rejected a proposed $9 billion all-stock merger with CoreWeave, although the two companies maintain a commercial relationship.