Galaxy Digital's Texas expansion plan approved by ERCOT, marking a new milestone in crypto energy infrastructure

Texas is becoming a hot spot for infrastructure investments in the crypto industry, and Galaxy Digital’s latest breakthrough fully illustrates this trend. The company’s data center expansion plan has not only been approved by the Texas grid operator ERCOT but also opens new possibilities for industry development in the region.

ERCOT Officially Approves 830MW Capacity Increase

Galaxy Digital announced that its Helios data center campus in western Texas has received a critical approval from Texas electricity provider ERCOT. Based on this decision, the company is authorized to add 830 megawatts of power capacity to the facility. This approval is based on a completed high-load connection study, doubling the Helios campus’s total approved load capacity from previous levels to over 1.6 gigawatts.

Such an expansion scale is quite rare in Texas’s data center industry. Galaxy Digital has signed a service agreement with power provider AEP Texas, and Wind Energy Transmission Texas is responsible for deploying the connection infrastructure. According to the schedule, power supply for Phase 1 of the project is expected to commence in early 2026.

AI and High-Performance Computing Drive Long-Term Strategy

Galaxy Digital’s investment in this Texas land reflects its strategic shift toward artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). CEO Mike Novogratz stated in a release that the demand for AI computing capacity in Texas has reached an “unprecedented” level. The first phase of the Helios project has entered the construction phase, achieved through a partnership with AI computing infrastructure provider CoreWeave.

In addition to the current expansion plan, Galaxy Digital is actively exploring additional land and energy resource options in Texas and other states, reserving space for future growth.

Market Reaction and Investor Confidence

Following this positive news, Galaxy Digital’s stock (ticker GLXY) rose 4% in U.S. trading. This performance is particularly notable against the backdrop of the overall crypto market weakness — during the same period, Bitcoin fell below $96,000, causing stocks of other crypto-related companies such as Coinbase, Circle, and MARA Holdings to decline by 3%-5%.

Galaxy Digital’s stock defied the trend, reflecting investor confidence in the company’s long-term infrastructure development strategy and optimistic expectations for Texas’s role in the crypto and AI industries.