MARA purchases $100 million worth of bitcoin, holdings surpass 20,000 BTC

Bitcoin miner MARA, recently rebranded from Marathon Digital, announced on Thursday it has purchased an additional $100 million worth of bitcoin. The acquisition brings MARA’s balance sheet holding to more than 20,000 BTC ($1.3 billion) — nearly 0.1% of bitcoin’s total 21 million supply, according to a statement shared with The Block.

The bitcoin miner did not provide specific details on when the purchases were made and at what average price, with the firm simply taking "strategic advantage of favorable market conditions to opportunistically purchase bitcoin in the market,” MARA CFO Salman Khan told The Block.

However, based on the dollar amount and the company’s balance sheet holdings of 18,536 BTC as of the end of June, according to Bitcoin Treasuries, the latest acquisitions are likely to have totaled around 1,500 BTC, bought in the $54,000 to $68,000 range this month.

It’s not the first time MARA has acquired bitcoin outside of its mining production, purchasing $150 million worth of bitcoin in January 2021. “However, the vast majority of the bitcoin reflected on our balance sheet has been generated from our mining operations,” Khan said.

MARA's full 'HODL' strategy

Additionally, MARA said it would adopt a full “HODL” approach to its bitcoin treasury policy, retaining all the bitcoin mined in its operations with further strategic acquisitions made periodically.

"Adopting a full HODL strategy reflects our confidence in the long-term value of bitcoin," MARA chairman and CEO Fred Thiel said in the statement. "We believe bitcoin is the world’s best treasury reserve asset and support the idea of sovereign wealth funds holding it. We encourage governments and corporations to all hold bitcoin as a reserve asset.”

MARA had already reduced the proportion of its bitcoin sold as a percentage of production from 56% in 2023 to 31% in 2024, according to a Wednesday report from analysts at research and brokerage firm Bernstein.

Large bitcoin miner consolidators are selling less percentage of their production in 2024, compared to 2023. Image: Bernstein.

“Prior to last year, the company used to hold all of its bitcoin,” Khan added. “Given Bitcoin’s current tailwinds, including increased institutional support and an improving macro environment, we are once again implementing this strategy and focusing on growing the amount we hold on our balance sheet. Bitcoin’s recent price decline, coupled with the strength of our balance sheet, afforded us an opportunity to add to our holdings.”

Following the renewed strategy, MARA will leverage existing cash on its balance sheet and capital markets to fund operations going forward, Khan told The Block.

Last month, MARA announced it had also expanded into altcoin mining to diversify revenue streams post-Bitcoin halving, deploying its first Kaspa application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners in September 2023.