Core Scientific Expands Muskogee Campus to 1.5 Gigawatts

Core Scientific announced on 22 May 2026 its strategy to significantly expand its bitcoin mining campus in Muskogee, Oklahoma, with a goal of reaching 1.5 gigawatts of gross power capacity. The move represents a major capital commitment for one of North America's largest public miners and is positioned as a build-to-own project, providing long-term control over its energy infrastructure. The phased development, which would more than double the site's current planned capacity, highlights a strategic bet on securing low-cost power for the long haul even as the global bitcoin network hashrate flattens.

Context — why this matters now

The announcement arrives at a pivotal moment for industrial-scale bitcoin mining. The sector is emerging from a cyclical trough where high energy prices and compressed bitcoin margins forced widespread consolidation and capacity rationalization in 2024-2025. The current macro backdrop features more stable, albeit elevated, U.S. industrial power rates and a bitcoin price consolidating in a $70,000-$80,000 range, which improves project economics for well-capitalized operators.

What changed to trigger this expansion now is a confluence of site-specific readiness and corporate strategy. Core Scientific completed its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2024, cleansing its balance sheet. The Muskogee site, acquired in 2023, already possesses critical interconnection agreements and land rights, allowing for accelerated development. The catalyst chain is clear: financial restructuring, secured site assets, and a management mandate for vertical integration have aligned to make a multi-gigawatt build feasible.

Data — what the numbers show

The planned expansion to 1.5 GW is substantial, placing Core Scientific's Muskogee facility among the largest single-site bitcoin mining operations globally. For comparison, the entire publicly traded U.S. bitcoin mining sector reported a combined operational power capacity of approximately 8.1 GW as of Q1 2026. Core Scientific's total corporate operational capacity prior to this announcement stood near 1.1 GW across all sites.

The financial commitment is significant. Industry analysts estimate a capital expenditure cost of $400-$600 per kilowatt for a fully built, owned, and energized data center of this scale. This implies a total project cost ranging from $600 million to $900 million if fully realized. The company's market capitalization as of 21 May 2026 was approximately $3.2 billion. The project will be executed in phases, with the first 300-megawatt increment targeted for energization in Q4 2027.

Core Scientific's hashrate, a measure of its computational power, is expected to grow in proportion to the energized capacity. The company's current self-mining hashrate is 36 exahashes per second. A fully built 1.5 GW site, assuming deployment of the latest generation mining hardware, could theoretically support over 90 EH/s of additional hashrate, though timelines for full deployment extend for years.

Analysis — what it means for markets / sectors / tickers

The expansion is a bullish signal for Core Scientific's primary competitors with similar build-to-own ambitions, namely Riot Platforms (RIOT) and CleanSpark (CLSK). These firms may see positive sentiment spillover as the market rewards scale and vertical integration. The announcement directly pressures pure-hosting models and smaller miners, who lack the capital for such projects and may face a competitive disadvantage in securing long-term, low-cost power contracts.

Equipment manufacturers stand to gain. The procurement demand for hundreds of thousands of new-generation application-specific integrated circuit miners, primarily from Bitmain and MicroBT, will be material over the multi-year build. This provides revenue visibility for these private suppliers and their component partners. Conversely, power grid operators and utilities in regions like Oklahoma may see increased, stable demand, potentially justifying further grid infrastructure investments.

A key limitation is execution risk. The timeline is long and dependent on supply chains, hardware efficiency gains, and sustained access to capital. A significant and sustained drop in the bitcoin price below a critical mining economics threshold could force a re-evaluation of later phases. Current positioning shows institutional funds favoring miners with owned infrastructure over leveraged hosting models, with flow data indicating net buying in CORZ, RIOT, and CLSK over the past month.

Outlook — what to watch next

The first critical catalyst is Core Scientific's Q2 2026 earnings call, scheduled for early August. Management will need to detail the financing plan for the initial 300 MW phase. Watch for announcements of power purchase agreement terms or project debt financing by year-end 2026. The energization of the first phase in Q4 2027 is the next major operational milestone.

Key levels to monitor include the global bitcoin network hashrate. A surge above 700 exahashes per second would indicate intense competition, pressuring all miners' margins. Conversely, a hashrate plateau would benefit early movers like Core Scientific. Also watch the stock's reaction to bitcoin price moves; a decoupling where CORZ outperforms BTC on up-days would signal the market is pricing in the strategic value of the expansion.

The broader regulatory environment for energy-intensive industries remains a watch item. Should federal or state-level carbon credit schemes targeting data centers be proposed, it could alter the economics of large-scale builds. Oklahoma's specific energy policy trajectory will be a focal point for analysts modeling the project's long-term viability.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Core Scientific's expansion mean for bitcoin's price?

The expansion itself is a capital expenditure decision and does not directly cause bitcoin's price to move. However, it reflects strong institutional conviction in the long-term economics of bitcoin mining. Large, irreversible investments in infrastructure increase the mining industry's stability and reduce sell-pressure from inefficient miners, which can be a supportive, indirect factor for price over the long term by strengthening the network's security foundation.

How does a 1.5 GW bitcoin mine compare to other industrial power users?

A 1.5 gigawatt facility is a massive consumer of electricity. For context, one gigawatt can power approximately 750,000 average U.S. homes. The entire state of Oklahoma had a peak electricity demand of roughly 8.5 GW in the summer of 2025. This single data center campus would, at full capacity, represent nearly 18% of that peak demand, placing it in a similar consumption league as a large aluminum smelter or a cluster of semiconductor fabrication plants.