Stanley Druckenmiller’s family office put $125.6 million into Bitcoin mining stocks last quarter. It sold out of major American AI chip stocks like Broadcom, Intel, and Micron Technology to make room for BTC.

Druckenmiller is famous for investing without a single year of loss for more than 30 years straight. His average annual return is 30%. During the 1992 currency crisis, he helped George Soros make about $1 billion betting against the British pound.

That’s why Wall Street still watches what Druckenmiller buys.

Understanding Druckenmiller’s $125 Million Bitcoin Bet

Duquesne Family Office listed the four new stakes on August 14. The disclosure came in a Form 13F, the quarterly report big investors must file with regulators. It shows what he held on June 30.

Bitdeer Technologies was the largest at $64.7 million. Hut 8 followed at $36.3 million, then Riot Platforms at $20.7 million and IREN at $4 million.

The total is small, at roughly 2.4% of a $5.21 billion portfolio.

It still marks a change of mind. In October 2023, Druckenmiller said he owned no Bitcoin, adding that he probably should. He had held it earlier and sold. He is back now, but sideways, through the miners.

Why Miners, Not Bitcoin

He skipped Bitcoin (BTC) itself and the spot funds too, buying electricity instead. A new grid connection can take years to secure. Miners spent a decade locking up cheap power. AI firms want that capacity now and cannot wait for their own.

Bitdeer shows the pitch, having mined 2,694 BTC last quarter. It also signed a $4.7 billion, 16-year lease with Volta. The deal covers a Norwegian site running Nvidia chips for an AI lab. Riot’s data center pivot copies the model.

Druckenmiller did not quit AI, though. He raised Taiwan Semiconductor to $281.6 million from $167.4 million. He also opened stakes in Advanced Micro Devices, Lam Research, Equinix, and Alphabet.

The Most Profitable Investor’s Bitcoin Bet is Down 24%

So far, the trade has not worked. All four Bitcoin miner stocks have fallen since June 30. Bitdeer is off 25.5%, Hut 8 is down 24.4%, Riot is down 24.3%, and IREN is down 10%.

Those same share counts are worth about $94.9 million today. That is a paper loss of about $30.7 million. Bitcoin went the other way. It has climbed roughly 33% since late June, from about $58,600 to levels above $81,000 as of this writing.

The bridge trade therefore lagged the asset it was built to capture. MARA and CleanSpark posted heavy quarterly mining losses in August as the same squeeze hit the sector.

Still, there is one caveat that matters. A 13F is a snapshot, not a live feed. Druckenmiller may have bought more or sold out since June 30. His next filing lands in November.

Source: BeInCrypto