NYDIG, the bitcoin mining and digital asset infrastructure firm, is in advanced negotiations to purchase Alcoa Corp.'s idled Massena East aluminum smelter site upstate New York, according to Bloomberg. The deal would give NYDIG full ownership of the roughly 435MW campus along the St. Lawrence River, where it already holds a strategic stake in the existing mining operation.
Former Smelter Repurposed for Crypto Mining
Alcoa CEO Bill Oplinger confirmed the talks on April 17, 2026, expecting a closing around mid-year. The site was originally idled in 2014 due to high energy costs. Alcoa leased it to Coinmint in 2018 for bitcoin mining; Coinmint later rebranded local operations as North Country Colocation Services. NYDIG took a stake in Coinmint in October 2024, enabling it to deploy its own rigs. The campus currently draws about 166MW of its approved capacity and houses roughly 54,000 bitcoin miners across six former smelting lines. Third-party clients like Cleanspark, Gryphon, and Bit Digital have since left.
NYDIG Expansion Push
This acquisition follows NYDIG's March 2025 agreement to buy Crusoe Energy's bitcoin mining business, adding over 270MW of capacity. Combined with other 2024 acquisitions, the Massena East purchase would give NYDIG direct control of a site it has operated for over a year. The campus draws power from the Moses-Saunders hydroelectric dam via the New York Power Authority, a carbon-free source appealing to ESG-focused operators. Alcoa is divesting roughly 10 dormant U.S. smelter sites to data center and crypto miners. The current mining operation employs 85 workers, with expected expansion under NYDIG ownership.