• Bitcoin Miner Marathon (MARA) Buys $100M BTC, Will Adopt ‘Full HODL’ Strategy
• The miner holds over 20,000 bitcoin and plans to buy more in the open market
• Marathon Digital Holdings aims to become one of the largest bitcoin miners in the world
Marathon Digital Holdings, one of the largest enterprise Bitcoin mining companies in North America, announced that it will buy $100 million worth of Bitcoin and return to a ‘full HODL’ strategy.
Marathon Buys $100M in Bitcoin
The Nasdaq-listed miner said it has purchased approximately 4,810 Bitcoin at an average price of $20,817. The purchase brings Marathon’s total Bitcoin holdings to around 10,060 BTC.
Marathon plans to buy more Bitcoin with excess cash flow on an ongoing basis. The company’s goal is to hold 50% of all future Bitcoin production and not sell any Bitcoin.
Marathon CEO Fred Thiel said the miner wanted to return to the ‘full HODL’ strategy due to macroeconomic uncertainty and limited visibility into miner economics following the recent crypto market crash.
Thiel explained that buying Bitcoin will allow Marathon to meaningfully participate in future price appreciation. He added that the approach reflects the company’s belief that Bitcoin will continue to grow in importance and be a vital part of the future global financial infrastructure.
Marathon’s Previous ‘Full HODL’ Strategy
Marathon previously adopted a ‘full HODL’ strategy in 2020 when it decided to hold all mined Bitcoin instead of selling it. However, the company changed course in Q4 2021 due to growth opportunities that exceeded capital needs.
At the time, Marathon said holding significant amounts of Bitcoin could subject the company to increased balance sheet volatility and risks. Thiel noted that the miner sold a portion of its Bitcoin holdings to fund the build-out of mining operations and invest in the future of the business.
Marathon Mining Operations
Marathon currently operates computing centers in Hardin, Montana and Granite Falls, Washington. The company aims to become one of the largest and most sustainable Bitcoin miners in North America.
As of July 1, 2022, Marathon had around 73,000 top-tier Bitcoin miners deployed with a hashrate capacity of approximately 7.9 exahashes per second (EH/s). By the end of 2022, the miner expects to have 199,000 Bitcoin miners deployed, representing 23.3 EH/s.
At current difficulty rates, Marathon estimates its deployed miner fleet will produce around 50-60 Bitcoin per day on average. With all miners fully deployed, Marathon expects to produce around 140 Bitcoin per day on average.
Conclusion
Marathon’s purchase of $100 million worth of Bitcoin signals a return to the ‘full HODL’ strategy amid macro uncertainty. The Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin miner plans to hold 50% of all future Bitcoin production as it scales up operations across multiple data centers in the US. Marathon believes that holding significant amounts of Bitcoin will allow the company to benefit from future price appreciation.
