Alcoa nears sale of New York smelter to NYDIG amid shift of U.S. industrial sites to digital infrastructure

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Alcoa sells NY smelter to NYDIG

Highlights

Alcoa is in advanced talks to sell its inactive Massena East smelter in New York to NYDIG, with closing expected mid-2024.
Massena East’s substations, grid connections and hydropower access make it attractive for Bitcoin mining and data center conversion.
The deal aligns with a U.S. trend of transforming retired industrial assets into digital infrastructure, following Century Aluminum’s $200 million Hawesville sale to TeraWulf.

Massena East sale timeline and site appeal

As reported by Cointelegraph, Alcoa is in advanced discussions to sell the long-idle Massena East smelter in upstate New York to New York Digital Investment Group, and Chief Executive Bill Oplinger says the deal is expected to close in the middle part of this year.

The facility sits along the St. Lawrence River and has remained inactive since 2014, when Alcoa shut it down because of rising energy costs and global competition. Its industrial design still makes it valuable for new uses, because aluminum smelters typically include substations, transmission lines and large grid connections that can take years to replicate through new approvals.

Massena East also has access to hydropower supplied by the New York Power Authority. That power profile is a major attraction for Bitcoin mining and data center operators seeking lower-cost and lower-carbon electricity for round-the-clock computing operations.

Broader repositioning across crypto and AI

The possible sale fits a wider U.S. trend in which retired industrial properties are being converted into digital infrastructure sites. Earlier this year, Century Aluminum sold its Hawesville smelter in Kentucky to TeraWulf for $200 million, with plans to turn the asset into a high-performance computing and AI facility rather than return it to traditional industrial production.

NYDIG is also expanding its footprint in Bitcoin mining infrastructure. The Stone Ridge-owned firm already holds a stake in Coinmint, which runs mining hardware on the same campus under a long-term lease, and last year Crusoe Energy agreed to sell its Bitcoin mining business, including digital flare mitigation operations, to NYDIG.

The move comes as miners across the sector diversify beyond Bitcoin production. Companies including Hive, Hut 8, TeraWulf and Iren are repurposing mining facilities into data centers, while firms such as CoreWeave have shifted fully toward AI-focused infrastructure; MARA Holdings also bought a 64% stake in French infrastructure company Exaion earlier this year to expand into AI services.

Our earlier analysis of Hut 8 (HUT) highlighted a strong bullish trend, with the stock trading well above key moving averages and backed by broadly positive momentum signals. At the same time, several indicators were in overbought territory, pointing to elevated volatility and a higher risk of short-term exhaustion unless the price could sustain a clear breakout above near-term resistance.

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