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A bankrupt Bitcoin miner is transforming into an AI data center player.
The stock goes public on the Nasdaq next week.
Ionic Digital
Nasdaq: IOND
Direct listing: trading expected July 28
Price reference: $53/share
Market cap: ~$1.97 billion
Enterprise value: ~$1.55 billion
Ionic was formed in January 2024 to take over the crypto mining assets of Celsius Mining. That business was left behind after Celsius Network collapsed in bankruptcy.
Most miners in that spot just kept mining. Ionic did something different.
It started leasing its powered data center sites to AI and high-performance computing tenants instead. The economics are simple: stable, contracted dollars beat the price volatility of Bitcoin.
The centerpiece is a 234-megawatt facility in Ward County, Texas. In late 2025, Ionic leased the entire site to Nscale, an AI cloud provider. The lease is a 126-month triple-net agreement. That single deal represents about $1.95 billion in contracted revenue – or approximately $185 million per year.
There's more capacity coming. Ionic plans to add 89 megawatts at Ward County> That expansion will increase the Nscale relationship toward $2.6 billion. It's also converting older mining sites near Midland for the same use.
This isn’t your conventional Initial Public Offering. It’s a direct listing. The company raises no new money. Existing shareholders — many of them former Celsius creditors — can sell up to about 10.8 million shares. J.P. Morgan is advising, but there's no underwritten offering.
Ionic already raised what it needs. In June it closed a $400 million private round at $53 a share, backed by Attestor, Oaktree, Sachem Head, and Citadel. That leaves the balance sheet with zero debt heading into the listing.
That $53/share price is used as the reference price for this offering.
The financials show a company mid-transition. Last year's revenue was about $152 million, down 8% as mining wound down. However, the first quarter of this year shows a turnaround. Revenues grew 25% and the net loss shrunk by more than 50% as AI data center lease revenue kicked in.
Direct listings can trade with thin volume. Ionic’s AI-lease revenue rests heavily on one tenant. If Nscale stumbles, so does the story.
I'll be watching where IOND opens relative to that $53 private-round mark. A premium says the market believes the AI landlord pivot. A discount says it wants more proof in the financials.
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Ian Wyatt
Editor, IPO Watch