TeraWulf plans to raise billions in debt for massive Kentucky data center

TeraWulf, the company that once made its living mining Bitcoin, is raising roughly $3.5 billion in debt to build a data center campus in Kentucky.

The debt raise is aimed at constructing the Justified Data Campus in Hawesville, Kentucky, a former industrial site that TeraWulf is transforming into a sprawling AI computing hub. With potential capacity exceeding 1 GW when fully built out, the project represents one of the more ambitious bets in the increasingly crowded race to build AI infrastructure.

The money trail

TeraWulf has been assembling its financing in stages. Back in March 2026, the company secured a $500 million bridge loan from Morgan Stanley specifically earmarked for Kentucky construction. That was followed in April by an announcement of an $800 million to $900 million equity offering intended to fund the project further and settle existing debts.

Google has reportedly been involved in backstopping the AI infrastructure expansion through warrants or backstop support. Fluor, the global engineering and construction giant, has been tapped as the EPC contractor for the development.

The Anthropic deal changes the math

TeraWulf signed a 20-year lease with Anthropic on July 6, 2026, for 401 MW of capacity at the Hawesville campus. That single deal is projected to generate approximately $19 billion in contracted revenue over its lifetime.

The first phase of the Kentucky site is designed to deliver 384 to 480 MW of capacity, with the broader campus eventually scaling past 1 GW.

From Bitcoin to bytes

TeraWulf’s transformation from Bitcoin miner to AI infrastructure company is part of a broader trend sweeping the crypto mining industry. Companies that spent years building expertise in securing cheap power, managing heat-intensive computing operations, and negotiating with utilities have realized those exact skills translate directly to the data center business.

The Hawesville site’s appeal comes down to power. The location, previously home to industrial operations, offers access to substantial electrical capacity in a region where energy costs remain competitive.

What this means for investors

The bull case is straightforward. TeraWulf is locking in long-term, contracted revenue streams with creditworthy tenants while leveraging its energy procurement expertise. The Anthropic lease alone provides a revenue floor that makes the debt load look manageable, and Google’s involvement as a financial backer adds another layer of institutional validation.

The bear case deserves attention too. Taking on $3.5 billion in debt is aggressive for any company, let alone one that was primarily a Bitcoin miner a couple of years ago. Construction risk is real, timelines in large-scale data center buildouts frequently slip, and the AI infrastructure market is attracting competition from deep-pocketed players like Blackstone, Microsoft, and Amazon who are spending tens of billions on their own facilities.