Shares of six companies at the center of bitcoin miners’ push into AI data centers surged Thursday amid reports that Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness — an investor in all six as of March 31 — had liquidated its public-stock portfolio.
As of about midday, IREN (IREN) led the gains, rising 27%, while Bitdeer (BTDR), Riot Platforms (RIOT), CleanSpark (CLSK), Core Scientific (CORZ) and HIVE Digital (HIVE) had each climbed about 20% or more, according to The Block's equities data.
The rise in shares came following the news that former OpenAI researcher Aschenbrenner had been forced to sell off his stock portfolio.
The move came as Situational Awareness needed to raise capital "to meet margin requirements," according to CNBC.
Ken Griffin’s investment firm Citadel has purchased the majority of the stocks owned by Situational Awareness, according to The Wall Street Journal.
