An unnamed “leading AI lab” has made a binding commitment to lease the facility for an additional 10 years after the current Fluidstack lease ends.

  • The follow-on commitment is expected to generate about $5.2 billion in incremental contracted revenue.
  • Cipher will absorb the first $359.3 million in costs above the original Barber Lake budget, with the tenant covering half of additional overruns beyond that amount.
  • The deal adds to Cipher’s shift from Bitcoin mining toward AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.

Cipher Digital (CIFR) shares rallied in early morning trade on Friday after the company announced it extended the lease term at its Barber Lake data center from 10 years to 20, more than doubling contracted revenue at the site from $3.8 billion to over $9 billion.

The additional 10-year commitment, which follows the existing lease with Fluidstack, comes from an unnamed “leading AI lab” and is expected to generate about $5.2 billion in incremental contracted revenue.

CIFR stock gained as much as 3.8% in pre-market trade, on track to erase the previous session’s losses, and was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing. Retail sentiment around the Bitcoin (BTC) miner pivoting towards AI infrastructure remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day.

CIFR stock retail sentiment on September 25 as of 8:15 a.m. ET | Source: Stocktwits

Cipher Extends Barber Lake Lease To 20 Years

Cipher amended its existing Barber Lake lease with Fluidstack and secured a binding commitment from the unnamed AI lab to lease the facility for another 10 years after the Fluidstack agreement ends.

The follow-on lease is expected to have economic terms substantially similar to the existing agreement. Together, the arrangements extend the contracted life of the facility to 20 years and push total contracted revenue above $9 billion.

Barber Lake will be delivered in phases, with individual data halls expected to come online from the fourth quarter of 2026 through the first quarter of 2027. Rent will begin for each data hall when it is delivered, with the first rent commencement expected in the fourth quarter.

Cost Overruns Add To Barber Lake Buildout

The lease amendment also establishes a cost reimbursement framework tied to changes in tenant requirements and the phased buildout.

Cipher will absorb the first $359.3 million of costs above the original budget. The tenant will then reimburse Cipher for 50% of additional costs above that amount over the 20-year term through additional rent. The reimbursement is structured to provide Cipher with a contracted rate of return on those costs.

Cipher Expands Its AI Data Center Pivot

Cipher, formerly known as Cipher Mining, has been shifting its business from Bitcoin mining toward AI and high-performance computing infrastructure, following a broader trend among crypto miners seeking to monetize power capacity and data center sites.

The latest extension builds on a series of expansions at Barber Lake since Cipher first signed its agreement with Fluidstack in September 2025. The original 10-year lease covered 168 megawatts of critical IT load and was valued at roughly $3 billion. Google (GOOG, GOOGL) backstopped Fluidstack’s obligations under the agreement and took a 5.4% equity stake in Cipher.

Two months later, Cipher expanded the arrangement by another 39 megawatts, bringing Fluidstack’s contracted footprint to the full 300 MW capacity planned for the site. That expansion pushed potential revenue toward $7 billion when extension options were included.

Cipher’s Data Center Push Beyond Barber Lake

Cipher has also expanded its customer base beyond Fluidstack. In November 2025, a Cipher subsidiary signed a separate 15-year, $5.5 billion AI hosting agreement directly with Amazon Web Services (AMZN) and announced plans for a new 1-gigawatt site in West Texas.

Earlier this month, Cipher, Fluidstack and Anthropic committed $10 million to repair and expand Colorado City’s municipal water system.

CIFR stock has gained more than 20% year-to-date.

Read also: Google To Send AI Chips Into Orbit Next Week Aboard SpaceX Rocket, Eyes Data Center In Space

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