MARA sold 23,093 BTC over six months, raising $1.6 billion: a survival strategy or a bet on the future?
Major public miner MARA continues to aggressively monetize its holdings of the first cryptocurrency. In the first six months of this year, the company sold 23,093 BTC, raising approximately $1.6 billion. The average sale price was recorded at $70,631 per coin. As I see it, these funds were directed toward covering operating costs, financing expansion programs, and maintaining liquidity in a volatile market.
As of the end of June, MARA's balance sheet held 35,577 BTC, equivalent to roughly $2.08 billion. However, the structure of these assets is notable: 9,270 BTC are tied up in capital management strategies. Of these, 4,742 BTC were lent to third parties, while another 4,528 BTC are used as collateral. This indicates that the company is trying to extract additional yield from its digital reserves rather than simply holding them.
Financial results: revenue falls, losses grow
The operational picture for the half-year looks mixed. MARA's revenue declined to $349.5 million, compared with $452.4 million in the same period last year. Revenue from direct bitcoin mining fell from $436.5 million to $342.2 million. Notably, mining output actually rose slightly—from 4,644 BTC to 4,669 BTC. The key factor behind the decline is a 23% drop in the average price of mined bitcoin, to $73,707.
The net loss for the half-year amounted to $1.87 billion, versus a profit of $274.8 million a year earlier. Two factors significantly impacted this result: a loss of $964.2 million from fair value remeasurement of digital assets and losses of $397.4 million related to bitcoin lent out or posted as collateral. The latter point demonstrates that active asset operations carry significant risks as well.
Debt burden and expansion plans
After the reporting period ended, MARA raised an additional $600 million through two bitcoin-backed credit lines from Coinbase and Two Prime. The company provided 18,750 BTC as initial collateral. Based on my information, part of these funds will be used to finance the purchase of the Long Ridge gas power plant. This confirms MARA's strategic course toward transforming into an energy company, which should lower mining costs in the long term.
Let me remind you that in the second quarter, the company's loss amounted to $611 million. The current situation shows that miners are in a phase of tough adaptation to the new market reality.
My analysis: Selling a significant portion of reserves and actively using collateral is a forced measure to maintain liquidity amid margin compression. However, this approach makes the company extremely vulnerable to sharp price swings. If bitcoin continues to decline, MARA could face a cascade of margin calls. At the same time, betting on its own power generation looks like a strategically sound move that could dramatically improve mining economics in the next cycle.