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Sager's latest page-turner, "The Unknown," is out now.

Don't have time for a Walter Boys Season 2 rewatch? We've got you covered.

By trading for Tarik Skubal, the Dodgers have gained a potential advantage in the upcoming sweepstakes for the two-time Cy Young Award winner, his agent told The California Post. Skubal, 29, will be a free agent after this season. “There’s nothing like getting to know how a franchise works and your role in it,” said...

Bitdeer Lands $4.7B Norway Lease With a16z-, Nvidia- And Dell-Backed Volta

Bitdeer Technologies Group (NASDAQ: BTDR) announced Aug. 4 that it has executed a 16-year colocation lease and services agreement for 121 IT megawatts at its Tydal, Norway campus, representing roughly $4.7 billion in contracted payments, with a renewal option that takes the potential total to $8.0 billion over 24 years. The announcement sent shares about 14% higher premarket.

The tenant is Volta Tydal AS, a subsidiary of Volta Infra Holdings, an AI infrastructure platform that emerged the same morning with $300 million in venture funding at a $2.4 billion valuation, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Altimeter Capital, with NVIDIA and Michael Dell participating. Dell Technologies is the technology provider at Tydal. Volta's end customer is an unnamed leading AI lab.

Bitdeer has turned an idle bitcoin mining campus into long-dated contracted revenue backed by bank credit, and it issued no equity and no warrants to do it.

Who does what Layer Party Role End customer Unnamed AI lab Buys compute. Contracted ~$10B over six years with Volta. Operator / tenant Volta Buys the NVIDIA GPUs (Dell supplies the hardware), owns and operates the compute, sells capacity to the lab. Pays Bitdeer rent. Landlord Bitdeer Owns the land, building, grid connection, power and cooling. Delivers 121 IT MW fitted to NVIDIA spec. Collects rent and service fees. Credit J.P. Morgan + one other global bank Issue ~$1.3B of letters of credit standing behind Volta's rent obligations.

Bitdeer is the landlord, not the compute operator. It does not buy or own the GPUs, so it carries no chip-obsolescence risk and no refresh cycle. It does not have to find AI customers. Under the modified gross structure it does not carry the electricity cost either, which Volta reimburses on a pass-through basis.

Bitdeer Tydal campus The terms Item Detail Contracted IT load 121 IT MW (~133 gross MW) Base term 16 years, plus one 8-year renewal option Contracted payments ~$4.7B base term; ~$8.0B with renewal Rate ~$202/kW/month average, modified gross; power reimbursed Escalators Contracted rate rises 3% a year, compounding, on both lease and services Revenue per IT MW ~$2.4M/year NOI margin (est.) ~90% Credit support ~$1.3B in letters of credit (J.P. Morgan affiliates + one other bank) Remaining capex ~$500M (~$4.0M per IT MW) Equity or warrants issued None Campus ownership retained 100% Delivery Phase 1 by Dec. 31, 2026; Phase 2 by Mar. 31, 2027 Tenant termination right No-fee exit at year 10

One line in that table needs unpacking. The 3% escalator means the rent does not stay flat. The contracted rate rises 3% every year and compounds, on the services fees as well as the base rent. So the $202/kW/month Bitdeer discloses is an average across all 16 years: the opening rate sits below it and the final-year rate well above. That is standard in long-dated data center leases, and it is why the headline total is far larger than 16 times the first year's rent.

The rate is the best in the sector

At $202/kW/month, Tydal prices at the top of the disclosed range for miner-to-AI conversions:

Deal Term Capacity Contracted value $/kW/mo Bitdeer / Volta (Tydal) 16 yr 121 IT MW $4.7B ~$202 (disclosed) TeraWulf / Anthropic (Hawesville) 20 yr ~401 MW ~$19B ~$197 (calculated) Hut 8 (Texas) 15 yr 352 MW $9.8B ~$155 (calculated) Cipher / Fluidstack (Barber Lake) 10 yr 168 IT MW ~$3B ~$149 (calculated) Cipher / AWS (Black Pearl) 15 yr 216 IT MW ~$5.5B ~$142 (calculated)

Bitdeer's $202 is stated in its Aug. 4 release as a 16-year average rate. Peer figures are ZH calculations from disclosed contract totals, terms and capacity. 

So... 

Bitdeer is selling services, not just space. This is a lease and services agreement, meaning Bitdeer operates the facility rather than simply renting it out. That is higher-margin and harder to displace than pure triple-net landlording, and it earns a rate to match. It also means the 3% escalator compounds on two revenue lines instead of one.

Norway prices above West Texas. European colocation commands a structural premium, and Tydal offers things the Permian Basin cannot: dual grid connectivity, local hydropower, an estimated PUE of approximately 1.1, and a carbon profile that matters to European customers and to an AI lab facing scrutiny on emissions. 

"This project will incorporate leading-edge NVIDIA GPU technology and frontier models from a leading AI lab into a data center that is powered exclusively through highly reliable, carbon-free energy sources," said Bitdeer CFO Michael G. Potter. 

Never Gonna Give You Up

Every converting miner faces the same problem - the tenants writing multi-billion-dollar AI checks are frequently young, private and unrated. Until that is solved, a signed lease is not something a bank will lend against. Bitdeer's competitors have solved it by selling equity: 

Cipher's Fluidstack lease at Barber Lake carries a Google backstop covering $1.4 billion of obligations. Google took warrants for roughly 24 million shares, about 5.4% of Cipher pro forma. TeraWulf's arrangements gave Google a stake of roughly 14%. Both companies bought their credit support with permanent dilution, at share prices set before the stocks re-rated.

Bitdeer got $1.3 billion of institutional credit support and issued nothing at all.

Moreover, the letters of credit are bank obligations, not tenant obligations. If Volta defaults, Bitdeer draws on J.P. Morgan and a second global institution rather than pursuing a private holding company through Norwegian courts. That $1.3 billion covers roughly five and a half years of early-term rent, and Bitdeer can terminate outright if Volta misses the credit-backstop milestones, a walk-away option most of its peers did not negotiate.

Bitdeer affiliates also retain 100% ownership of the campus, with no JV, no partial sale and no promote to a capital partner. Cipher formed a JV for its 1 GW Colchis site. TeraWulf sold its 50.1% Abernathy stake. Bitdeer kept the whole thing.

Bitdeer also intends to raise additional debt against Tydal, and expects the project financing to generate significant excess capital for other AI and HPC projects. Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Northland advised on the transaction, and leading institutions have been engaged for the financing. This is where the credit package pays off a second time. Contracted cash flows plus a bank-issued backstop is what makes a project financeable well inside what Bitdeer's corporate credit would command. Cipher priced senior secured notes at 7.125% on the strength of its Google backstop. Against only $500 million of remaining capex on a campus already energized and consented from its mining life, an over-raise is plausible.

Bitdeer also retains 47 gross MW of additional Tydal capacity, targeted for the second half of 2027 and outside this lease. It now has a marquee proof point and a live NVIDIA-spec campus with which to market it.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 09:55

The actor's daughter Katherine Schwarzenegger shared the smiling snap while wishing her dad a happy 79th birthday via Instagram last week.

The actor's daughter Katherine Schwarzenegger shared the smiling snap while wishing her dad a happy 79th birthday via Instagram last week.

Spotted at the elegant celebration were Darren Aronofsky, Don Cheadle, Liev Schreiber, Duran Duran rocker John Taylor, Julian Fellowes, Elizabeth McGovern, Julie Taymor and more.

WASHINGTON — The US could lock down a deal with Iran as soon as Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and let commercial ships sail freely again, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed.“We are in talks with the Iranians,” Bessent said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Tuesday morning. “There is a chance we may have a...

Trump Admin Drafting Ban On Chinese Optical Transceivers To Protect Data Centers From Spying

The Trump administration is preparing to slap import bans on Chinese optical transceivers, targeting a critical component for US data centers as White House officials seek to protect infrastructure supporting the AI boom from Chinese espionage, Reuters reported.

These small, pluggable connectors convert electrical signals from servers, switches, and AI chip stacks into light for transmission over fiber-optic cables, then convert the light back into electrical data at the other end. Because these modules are critical to data centers, Chinese-made transceivers could potentially allow Chinese firms to steal data, install malware, or disrupt services at US facilities.

Sources told the outlet that the Federal Communications Commission is drafting import restrictions on Chinese optical transceivers, which could take effect this year.

"Transceivers definitely pose a risk," said Divyansh Kaushik, an AI policy expert at the Washington, D.C.-based advisory firm Beacon Global Strategies. "As the data center buildout scales up, you want to make sure the data center supply chain is secure from the outset," he added.

The restrictions would affect Zhongji Innolight, which controls about 27% of the global data center transceiver market and was recently added to a Pentagon list of companies allegedly linked to China's military.

Meanwhile, U.S. manufacturers Coherent and Lumentum could benefit significantly from the measure. Coherent shares are up 18% in premarket trading, while Lumentum shares are up 14%. Applied Optoelectronics is also up 18%. 

However, as Reuters noted, those U.S. companies "lack the scale to replace Chinese suppliers immediately."

Read Goldman’s trading desk take on optical networking and transceiver stocks. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 09:40

The "Pretty Woman" icon is the latest star carrying the classic American brand's totes.

The "Pretty Woman" icon is the latest star carrying the classic American brand's totes.

Congratulations are in order for "Inside the NBA" host Kenny Smith.

The Diamondbacks' suffered a snakebit trade deadline -- courtesy of the Mets.

Trade $25, get up to $500 with Kalshi promo code NYPMAX.

ESPN's "Monday Night Football" rotation is getting a significant shakeup.

Ohio Congressman Max Miller has released secretly recorded conversations with his ex-wife as he fights back against explosive abuse allegations that continue to cloud his re-election campaign. The recordings add new context to the accusations while raising fresh questions about what happened behind closed doors. Also, a newly uncovered letter tied to the investigation into...

"Being on a film set when someone passes or something happens, it's really tough because you don't have time to grieve," the actor reflected.

"Being on a film set when someone passes or something happens, it's really tough because you don't have time to grieve," the actor reflected.

Shit Out Of Luck: 2 Dead In Outbreak Of Diarrhea-Causing Parasite: Officials

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Michigan authorities on Aug. 3 said two deaths are linked to the cyclosporiasis outbreak in the state, the first time cyclosporiasis-associated deaths have been reported since outbreaks began in the spring.

A farmer washes lettuce in a backyard urban farm in Los Angeles, on March 25, 2020. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

"Two deaths have been identified as part of the cyclosporiasis outbreak affecting Michigan," the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.

"According to medical records, both individuals had significant underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by cyclosporiasis and dehydration. No additional information will be provided on these two cases."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In its latest update on cyclosporiasis, the CDC said on July 28 that it had received no reports of deaths from states.

The CDC said that 45 states have reported 6,707 laboratory-confirmed cases since May 1 that were acquired domestically, that patients ranged in age from 1 to 98, and that the median illness onset date was July 2.

More than 11,000 other cases are pending lab testing or further investigation. The CDC is not counting cases related to international travel.

The outbreak affecting Michigan has also impacted eight other states, federal officials said in July. Iceberg lettuce from Mexico is believed to be a cause of the outbreak.

The other states are Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.

Michigan has recorded 11,234 cases in recent months, including 193 hospitalizations.

Indiana has recorded 1,285 cases. Kansas has reported 461 cases and 20 hospitalizations. Ohio has recorded about 20,000 cases. Oklahoma has reported 298 cases and 18 hospitalizations, and West Virginia has reported 268 cases and 19 hospitalizations.

Cyclosporiasis is caused by a parasite called Cyclospora that is present in produce contaminated with feces. Past outbreaks have been caused by produce such as salad greens, raspberries, and cilantro.

The disease's main symptom is diarrhea. Other symptoms can include abdominal pain and vomiting.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 09:00

The legislative body is also calling the Mamdani administration to task with its calendaring of an oversight hearing next month.