Points of Focus 

• Black Pearl Compute attracted $13B in orders for its $2B senior notes offering.  
• Proceeds to fund Texas data center leased to AWS in $5.5B deal.  
• Bonds priced at 6.125% yield, secured by first-priority liens on assets.

Cipher Mining’s AI subsidiary Black Pearl Compute did not struggle to find demand. The company’s $2 billion junk bond sale, launched Tuesday and priced Wednesday, drew overwhelming interest with $13 billion in orders, Bloomberg reported. The five-year senior notes yielded 6.125%, above the average BB-rated junk bond yield of 5.56%.

$13B of demand for $2B of CIFR bonds

Cost of capital coming down for the best AI data center developers

Yeah, sure, bears, we are headed lower. See you at $42. pic.twitter.com/enGoKGQVvU

— Mike Alfred (@mikealfred) February 4, 2026

The funding will finance construction of the Black Pearl data center in Texas, leased to Amazon Web Services for at least 15 years in a November deal valued at roughly $5.5 billion in contracted revenue for 300 MW of capacity. Proceeds will also reimburse Cipher approximately $232.5 million for previous equity contributions to Black Pearl, alongside other corporate needs.

How the deal fits the crypto miner-to-AI pivot trend

Black Pearl’s oversubscribed raise continues the trend of intense investor appetite for AI infrastructure in the face of crypto mining’s diversification push. Mining firms have raised billions in debt to fund site acquisitions, retrofits, and high-performance computing projects. 

Last year, Galaxy Digital raised $1.4 billion and TeraWulf sought $3 billion for similar initiatives,  before it acquired 1.5 GW of Brownfield infrastructure in a smart deal. Cipher itself signed a 10-year, 168 MW lease with FluidStack in September 2025, which could yield up to $7 billion potential revenue backed by Google, which took a 5.4% stake in Cipher.

TeraWulf just expanded its development pipeline in a big way with strategic infrastructure acquisitions in Kentucky and Maryland.

Here’s what you need to know.

— TeraWulf (@TeraWulfInc) February 2, 2026

The bonds are secured by first-priority liens on “substantially all assets” of Black Pearl and its guarantors, plus equity interests, providing lenders strong collateral in a sector where energy and compute capacity are the core value drivers.

Cipher’s long-term lease of its Texas data center to AWS provides a stable, multi-year revenue stream, while the $2 billion bond proceeds (with $13 billion in demand) allow the company to rapidly expand construction, without relying heavily on dilutive equity raises. 

The 6.125% yield describes junk status but still drew massive demand, investors are betting on AI compute as the next growth leg for miners post-halving. This could diversify revenue away from volatile BTC rewards for shareholders; while further validating the crypto miner to AI narrative for the sector.