Vitalik Buterin noted that Bitcoin mining costs are distributed roughly equally between electricity and hardware capital expenditures. Specifically, electricity accounts for about 46% of the total cost per coin, while hardware and related infrastructure make up approximately 40%.
The total production cost per Bitcoin is estimated at $93 700. This figure includes $40 600 for direct power, $2 400 for additional electricity, and $37 600 for compute capex, which covers hardware, cooling, and financing. The remaining 14% covers labor, rent, and taxes.
In contrast, AI inference costs are dominated by hardware capital expenditures, with electricity representing a significantly smaller portion of the total. This difference allows AI operators to absorb higher energy prices compared to Bitcoin miners.
The competition for energy sites is intensifying as AI developers seek power capacity. Some industry participants are exploring models like the one proposed by BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, which involves a network paying GPU owners to perform AI tasks.
