Amazon’s long-term debt has ballooned to roughly $128.9 billion, nearly doubling from around $65 billion. The cause: a capital expenditure spree that CEO Andy Jassy insists is not optional but necessary to keep AWS ahead in the AI arms race.

The company recently raised its 2026 capex guidance to $220 billion, up from an already eye-popping $200 billion target. A $25 billion bond issuance helped fund the expansion.

Why Jassy is betting the balance sheet

AWS reported Q2 2025 revenue of $129 billion, reflecting 20% year-over-year growth. Jassy has framed the spending as a response to “sustained customer demands” for AWS services.

Amazon isn’t alone in this race. Microsoft, Google, and Meta are all throwing staggering sums at data center buildouts.

The crypto angle hiding in plain sight

Cipher Mining recently signed a $5.5 billion, 15-year agreement with AWS to supply 300 MW of AI-ready power, with operations expected to begin in 2026. That’s a Bitcoin miner essentially becoming a power and infrastructure landlord for one of the world’s largest cloud providers. The deal reflects a broader trend: miners are sitting on exactly what hyperscalers need most, which is permitted power capacity and existing sites that can be converted for high-performance computing.

Bitcoin miners have collectively secured over $70 billion in AI and HPC contracts. Analysts project that by late 2026, AI revenue could represent more than 70% of total revenues for publicly listed miners.

What this means for investors

For crypto investors, the pivot of Bitcoin miners toward AI computing represents one of the most significant structural shifts in the mining sector’s history. Companies like Cipher Mining are essentially hedging against Bitcoin price volatility by diversifying into enterprise computing infrastructure.

This creates a new valuation framework for mining stocks. The AI contract backlog, power capacity, and relationships with hyperscalers now matter as much as, if not more than, the Bitcoin holdings on their balance sheets.