K Wave Media scraps massive bitcoin treasury plan to redirect $485 million to AI

The Nasdaq-listed firm raised $500 million to invest in bitcoin. Less than a year later, it is chasing the market's current hot sector of AI.

What to know:

• K Wave Media (KWM) is redirecting up to $485 million from a planned bitcoin treasury strategy into AI infrastructure, including data centers, GPU compute and acquisitions, under an amended deal with Anson Funds.
• The pivot, which reverses a 2025 plan to use a $500 million facility to buy BTC, triggered a sharp market backlash, with K Wave shares falling 24 percent on Monday and sliding further in premarket trading on Tuesday.
• The move aligns K Wave—soon to be rebranded as Talivar Technologies—with a broader shift by bitcoin miners toward AI and high-performance computing, as mining costs outstrip bitcoin prices while AI infrastructure contracts offer far higher margins and steadier revenue.

Bitcoin miners are turning to AI infrastructure to ramp up revenues, and some treasury firms are joining in on the rotation too.

K Wave Media (KWM), a Nasdaq-listed Korean media and entertainment firm, told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that it is redirecting up to $485 million in remaining financing capacity away from a planned bitcoin treasury push and into AI infrastructure.

The money will flow into data centers, GPU compute operations and acquisitions across the AI value chain, under an amended agreement with structured equity financier Anson Funds.

The original $500 million facility was set up in June 2025 explicitly to buy bitcoin, part of K Wave's effort to reposition itself in capital markets at a time when bitcoin treasury announcements were doing more for share prices than the underlying businesses were.

Less than a year later, that thesis has been retired in favor of a sector with newer momentum.

Investors did not love the pivot. K Wave shares closed down 24% on Monday, and are down 4% in premarket trading on Tuesday.

Chief executive Ted Kim termed the redirection as an ambition to become "a meaningful participant in the rapidly growing AI infrastructure sector," with plans to build a scalable platform across compute and related technologies.

The company is also punting on a corporate rebrand to "Talivar Technologies," pending shareholder approval at the annual meeting in early July.

The shift fits a pattern that has been quietly building for months.

CoinDesk reported in March that publicly listed bitcoin miners had collectively zoomed toward AI and high-performance computing, signing more than $70 billion in cumulative contracts and shedding over 15,000 BTC from peak treasury levels to finance the transition. Core Scientific sold roughly 1,900 BTC worth $175 million in January. Bitdeer drained its treasury to zero in February. Riot Platforms sold 1,818 BTC worth $162 million in December.

The miners were forced into it, as the weighted-average cash cost to produce one bitcoin among publicly listed miners hit approximately $79,995 in Q4 2025, while bitcoin spent most of 2026 below that figure.

AI infrastructure contracts, meanwhile, promise margins above 85% with multi-year revenue visibility.

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