MARA sold more than 23,000 BTC over six months: a survival strategy or a bet on liquidity?
The largest public miner MARA sold 23,093 BTC on the market in the first six months of this year, generating approximately $1.6 billion in revenue. This is an unprecedented sales volume for the company, which directly reflects the current realities of the industry: even giants are forced to convert mined assets into fiat to cover operating costs and scale up capacity.
The average selling price for the reporting period was $70,631 per coin. At the same time, the company's balance sheet as of June 30 held 35,577 BTC, valued at $2.08 billion. Notably, a significant portion of these reserves—9,270 BTC—is tied up in active capital management strategies: 4,742 BTC have been lent to third parties, and another 4,528 BTC are used as collateral.
The financial results demonstrate serious pressure on the business model. MARA's revenue for the half-year fell to $349.5 million, compared to $452.4 million a year earlier. Mining income declined from $436.5 million to $342.2 million, although the volume of mined coins even increased slightly—from 4,644 to 4,669 BTC. The key factor is a 23% drop in the average price of mined bitcoin, to $73,707.
The net loss for the six months reached $1.87 billion, versus a profit of $274.8 million in the same period last year. The main loss items are a $964.2 million loss from revaluation of digital assets at fair value and another $397.4 million loss on bitcoins lent out or pledged as collateral.
After the end of the quarter, MARA raised an additional $600 million through two bitcoin-backed credit lines from Coinbase and Two Prime, providing 18,750 BTC as initial collateral. Part of these funds will be used to finance the purchase of the Long Ridge gas power plant—a step that confirms the company's transformation into an energy operator.
My analysis: Selling assets at the peak of volatility and actively using collateral mechanisms is a forced measure, but it also shows the market's maturity. MARA is deliberately sacrificing part of its potential profit from price appreciation in favor of financial stability and infrastructure expansion. In the long term, the bet on its own power generation could become a key competitive advantage, especially ahead of the halving, when margins will be squeezed anyway.