By: Harrison Miller
CleanSpark stock rallied early Wednesday after the bitcoin miner announced plans to develop a major data center project in Texas to support artificial intelligence and high performance computing.
Bitcoin traded around $95,000 Wednesday morning following a Tuesday rally. Members of the Senate are scheduled to convene Thursday to debate the digital asset market structure bill, known as the Clarity Act.
CleanSpark (CLSK) on Wednesday announced an agreement to purchase up to 447 acres of land in Brazoria County, Texas, as well as a long-term transmission facilities extension agreement, in order to develop a large-scale data center project. The project will provide up to 300 megawatts (MW) of electrical power, with the potential to expand capacity up to 600 MW.
CleanSpark expects the deal to close in the current quarter, contingent on utility and property-related approvals.
The transaction marks the Henderson, NV.-based company’s second strategic development initiative in ERCOT’s greater Houston region. CleanSpark in October announced a 271-acre land acquisition in Austin County.
Together, the sites establish a regional power and infrastructure hub with more than 890 MW of potential power production, which will support large-scale, next-generation data center campuses for AI and HPC workloads.
“The demand for scaled, AI-native compute continues to accelerate, and access to transmission-level power in strategically advantageous regions has become increasingly constrained,” said CEO Matt Schultz. “This agreement underscores our ability to source and secure high-quality power at scale while building regional density that is highly attractive to leading AI and compute customers.”
Analyst Initiates CleanSpark Coverage, Stock Surges
Elsewhere, Northland on Tuesday initiated coverage of CleanSpark with an outperform rating, according to reports. The firm noted that CleanSpark is one of the largest bitcoin miners, as it owns and operates about 50 exahashes per second (EH/s) of bitcoin mining capacity across the U.S. Now, the company is expanding its operations into high performance computing and AI data centers to further optimize its infrastructure. Northland believes there are “abundant opportunities” for CleanSpark to secure HPC leases on “very attractive terms” in the near- to medium-term.
The firm has a 22.50 price target on CLSK stock, representing a 79% premium to its Tuesday closing price of 12.55.
CLSK stock jumped as much as 8.14% early Wednesday to surge above its 50-day moving average.
CleanSpark has rebounded to start the year following a downtrend in December. Shares are up more than 38% from their late November lows through Tuesday, but are still trading well below their 2025 high of 23.61 from Oct. 15.
Bitcoin Price, Senate To Debate Clarity Act
The price of bitcoin swung above and below $95,000 early Wednesday, sliding from its Tuesday high above $96,000.
Bitcoin rallied Tuesday after the Consumer Price Index was tamer than expected in December, which boosted hopes for another Federal Reserve rate cut.
Meanwhile, the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday is expected to hold a markup hearing on the CLARITY Act, a bill that provides a digital asset market structure. The Senate Agriculture Committee, which was also scheduled to meet Thursday, rescheduled its crypto bill hearing to Jan. 27.
U.S. senators have filed for over 75 amendments to the legislation ahead of the hearing, CoinDesk reported.
One of the key topics of discussion will revolve around stablecoin rewards, or interest payments for customers parking their funds. The GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill that was signed into law last year, prohibited rewards payments. However, some companies have exploited a loophole that allows stablecoin issuers to indirectly fund payments to stablecoin holders through digital asset exchanges or other partners, according to the American Bankers Association.
The American Bankers Association in early January wrote to the Senate urging them to close the loophole, arguing that stablecoins may allure customers and become a competitor to bank deposits. The Treasury has estimated that $6.6 trillion in bank deposits are at risk without the prohibition, according to the ABA.
Other issues to address include ethics provisions, such as if public officials can profit off crypto ventures, as well as the treatment of decentralized finance platforms and their developers
