Bitcoin miner Hut 8 Corp. said it will develop four new facilities in the United States, adding a projected 1.53 gigawatts of power capacity. The Miami-based company, which merged with U.S. Bitcoin Corp. in 2023, said the sites will support high-density computing workloads such as artificial-intelligence processing in addition to traditional bitcoin mining. Following the announcement, investment bank Benchmark reiterated its “buy” rating on Hut 8 and raised its 12-month price target to $36 from $33. Analyst Mark Palmer wrote that the planned build-out positions Hut 8 to become one of the industry’s largest power owners, offering flexibility to redirect capacity as market conditions shift. Hut 8 shares rose modestly in early trading on Wednesday.