Canaan Expands Hardware Partnership with Tether for South American Mining Infrastructure

Canaan Inc. (CAN) has announced a new agreement to supply high-density hash board modules to Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin. These custom components are specifically designed for immersion-cooled systems and are slated for deployment at a Tether-linked facility in South America. This order expands a previous research and development collaboration between the two firms. The partnership builds upon a 2025 initiative involving ACME Swisstech, which focused on creating a proof-of-concept platform to enhance the scalability and efficiency of large-scale mining operations. Tether is increasingly verticalizing its infrastructure, developing its own proprietary control boards and management software. This move suggests a transition toward a more integrated hardware-software ecosystem, mirroring the architecture of traditional high-performance data centers. The partnership occurs as the broader Bitcoin mining industry faces significant revenue pressure. Major operators, including MARA Holdings, TeraWulf, and HIVE Digital, have begun diversifying into AI workloads and data center services to offset mining volatility. Analysts have noted that some firms may eventually phase out mining entirely in favor of AI cloud infrastructure. On the financial front, Canaan currently holds 1,808 BTC on its balance sheet, valued at approximately $137 million. Despite the partnership announcement, Canaan's Nasdaq-listed shares declined roughly 1% in mid-day trading, while the CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI) saw a 5.7% drop.