CONFIRMED: the raise, valuation and use of money come from SWI Group’s own release of 12 October 2026. REPORTED: the chief executive’s remarks about bitcoin mining, Kazakhstan and Sweden come from the Wall Street Journal, as reported by CoinDesk. The investors were not named.
SWI Group, an investment company listed on Euronext Amsterdam, “today announces an €800 million capital increase with institutional investors,” it said on 12 October, at what it calls a “€6.1 billion final valuation” [1]. CoinDesk converts the sum to about $894 million [3].
What SWI confirmed
- New shares. The money comes from issuing new ordinary shares, “increasing the total share capital to 558,399,385 ordinary shares” [1].
- Over €1bn this year. The deal “increases the total equity raised since March 2026 to over €1 billion” [1].
- What the money is for. Data centre and AI computing capacity, “including power infrastructure, compute deployments and the execution of its development pipeline on both sides of the Atlantic”, plus “further investment into AI and increasing its stake in existing investments” [1].
- More shares in public hands. The free float (shares that trade freely, rather than being held by insiders) rises “to approximately 20% of the share capital” [1].
- Extras for some investors. “Certain investors are granted options in relation to their shares conditional on ECM milestones” [1]. ECM means equity capital markets; SWI did not say what the milestones are.
Founder and CEO Max-Hervé George said: “This transaction is about keeping up to speed with the compute and data center markets. We have a clear strategy, a substantial pipeline and a strong position across Europe and the United States. We are very pleased to welcome new investors who share our long-term ambition for the Group.” [1]
The bitcoin miner behind it
In June, SWI said it was paying $500 million for a large stake in Genesis Digital Assets, about 38.3% of the shares, and that “GDA holds 1.3 GW of energized and approved grid connections” across 15 facilities, mainly in the US [2]. It said then it intended to move Genesis away from crypto mining towards AI and high-performance computing [2].
Genesis has an FTX link: according to the WSJ, as reported by CoinDesk, Alameda Research, the trading firm owned by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, put more than $1 billion into Genesis from 2021 and owned about 20% of it [3].
Now, George told the WSJ he has “zero interest” in bitcoin mining, according to CoinDesk [3]. CoinDesk reports that SWI is selling Genesis’s sites in Kazakhstan and aims to use its US and Swedish facilities for AI work instead [3].
Why bitcoin miners are turning into AI sites
AI data centres need huge amounts of electricity, and getting a new connection to the power grid can take years. Bitcoin miners already have big grid connections, land and buildings. So the valuable thing a miner owns is increasingly its power hook-up, not its mining machines. Swapping mining rigs for AI chips lets that power earn steadier money from AI customers instead of depending on the bitcoin price.
George put it bluntly in June: “Power connectivity is the most valuable commodity in digital infrastructure today, and converting legacy cryptocurrency mining infrastructure to AI and high-performance computing is the best and highest use of these assets.” [2] CoinDesk notes that listed miners such as TeraWulf and Core Scientific are doing the same [3].
What is not known
- Who the investors are, and what price they paid per share.
- What the “ECM milestones” behind the investor options are.
- Who is buying the Kazakhstan sites, and when the US and Swedish sites will start running AI work.
Sources
- SWI Group, “SWI Group announces €800 million institutional capital increase at a €6.1 billion final valuation…”, 12 October 2026. https://swi.com/wp-content/uploads/SWI-Group-Announces-E800-million-Capital-Increase.pdf
- SWI Group via PR Newswire, “SWI Group Expands Transatlantic Digital Infrastructure Platform with closing of $500 Million USD Acquisition of significant shareholding in a 1.3 GW USA portfolio”, 15 June 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/swi-group-expands-transatlantic-digital-infrastructure-platform-with-closing-of-500-million-usd-acquisition-of-significant-shareholding-in-a-1-3-gw-usa-portfolio-302799776.html
- CoinDesk (citing the Wall Street Journal), “SWI raises $894 million to repurpose former FTX bitcoin miner Genesis Digital to AI”, 12 October 2026, 11:27 BST. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/12/swi-raises-usd894-million-to-repurpose-former-ftx-bitcoin-miner-genesis-digital-to-ai
