Whether measured in exahash per second or in gigawatts, compute has become the essential commodity of the 21st century. Just as crude oil powered the industrial age, compute now powers the digital age. I believe that savvy investors who recognize this stand to benefit the most.
Global capital has been flooding into artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers. In June, U.S. construction spending on data centers hit an all-time high of $40 billion, up 30% from the same month last year, according to Bank of America.
Governments aren’t sitting idly by. Washington recently took an $8.9 billion equity stake in Intel, the UK has pledged billions toward supercomputers and defense budgets around the globe are surging with an emphasis on AI-enabled systems — from drones to satellites.
Compute is now a strategic asset, and nations are stockpiling it the way they do barrels of oil and gold.
Sustainable bitcoin mining at global scale
Nowhere is this more obvious, perhaps, than in Bitcoin. The world’s most secure, decentralized network is built entirely on raw compute power. Bitcoin miners convert energy into digital scarcity, producing the blocks that support a $2 trillion asset class.
We’ve seen firsthand how compute fuels growth. Last month, we surpassed 20 exahash per second of global mining capacity, making us responsible for about 2% of the Bitcoin network. That translates into roughly nine new bitcoins mined every day, at an efficiency of 18 joules per terahash.
I believe today’s investors want more than just returns: they want sustainable returns. That’s why green energy — powered by low cost, renewable hydroelectric energy across multiple continents — is central to a successful bitcoin mining strategy. As Bitcoin continues to enjoy adoption, institutional investors should think of the asset as part of a broader allocation to digital infrastructure, alongside semiconductors, data centers and AI platforms.
Compute emerging as the defining commodity of the century
It’s clear to me that compute is becoming its own asset class. In a recent survey, 95% of major investors told CBRE they plan to increase their exposure to data centers investments this year.
In the 20th century, investors who understood energy shaped industries and built massive fortunes. This century, the commodity that matters most is compute, whether you’re mining bitcoin or training AI models.
It is the foundation of the digital age and the resource that will define this century. By pairing it with sustainable energy, the potential long-term value for investors is limitless.
