Morgan Stanley upgrades Cipher & TeraWulf, saying their data center shift could unlock infrastructure-style valuations. Marathon was rated underweight as profits remain heavily tied to volatile bitcoin prices. Morgan Stanley has started formally analyzing the three major publicly traded Bitcoin miners.
They argued that these miners should not be viewed as a cryptocurrency bet; instead, they should be valued as an infrastructure business. The bank has given overweight ratings on Cipher Mining and Terawulf, while giving Marathon Digital an underweight rating. Morgan Stanley believes that once the mining company starts building large, powered sites and signing long-term contracts with customers, it starts looking like a real utility and infrastructure company.
Morgan Stanley says Cipher is well-positioned for what he called a “REIT endgame.” If the Cipher leases its building and power capacity to the AI instead of mining, then risk drops, and valuation could increase. TeraWulf also received a similar positive rating because the management has deep power and infrastructure experience, with the company already having a history of signing hosting and data center agreements. The analyst believes that future sites can be converted from mining to AI tenants.
For Marathon Digital, Stanley took a different position. Morgan Stanley says that the MARA behaves mainly like the bitcoin price vehicle, and it actively tries to increase BTC exposure. So its stock performance depends heavily on the difficulty, power costs, and BTC price swings.
Morgan Stanley warns that mining profitability faces pressure from competition and rising energy demands. These reports arrive when the investors are debating the future identity of Bitcoin miners. Morgan Stanley replies with its report to all the investors that the infrastructure model gives more stability and deserves a higher value than pure mining.
Morgan Stanley has begun formal analysis of Cipher Mining, TeraWulf, and Marathon Digital, arguing these miners should be valued as infrastructure businesses rather than simple crypto bets. The bank assigns overweight to Cipher Mining and TeraWulf and an underweight to Marathon Digital, noting that scale, powered sites, and long-term contracts could transform these firms into utility-like infrastructure players. According to the report, Cipher is positioned for a REIT endgame, with leased building and power capacity potentially serving AI tenants, thereby reducing risk and boosting valuation.
TeraWulf earns praise for its deep power and infrastructure experience and a track record of hosting and data-center agreements, suggesting future sites could be repurposed for AI use. Morgan Stanley notes that Marathon Digital behaves mainly as a bitcoin price vehicle; its performance hinges on mining difficulty, power costs, and BTC price swings. The firm warns that mining profitability faces pressure from competition and rising energy demands, prompting investors to debate the future identity of Bitcoin miners. The institutional view is that the infrastructure model offers greater stability and could justify a higher value than pure mining, aligning with the push to reframe miners as infrastructure plays.
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