MARA Sells 13,597 Bitcoin and Bets on AI Data Centers
MARA is using the proceeds for debt repayment, AI infrastructure, and possible buybacks. That way, the miner wants to rely less on Bitcoin after the halving and weaker margins.
Key Takeaways
- After September, MARA Holdings sold 13,597 Bitcoin for an average of about $81,039 each, bringing in $1.1 billion.
- Most of the proceeds went to debt repayment; $750 million went toward loans, freeing up 17,477 pledged coins.
- MARA wants to use its remaining Bitcoin for AI infrastructure, data centers, and possible buybacks, while revenue fell 35% in the third quarter.
Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings sold $1.1 billion (€1 billion) worth of Bitcoin after September and wants to keep that pace going to free up cash for AI infrastructure, debt repayment, and possible buybacks. The company sold 13,597 BTC at an average price of about $81,039 (€72,400), according to the third-quarter shareholder letter. That is almost 40% of the 34,012 Bitcoin it still held at the end of September.
More Selling Than Mining
The selling happened fast. Over about six weeks, MARA sold six times as much Bitcoin as it mined in the entire third quarter. That marks a clear move away from the old treasury policy, where it had promised to hold onto all the coins it mined.
In 2024, MARA still said it would keep its production and buy extra coins on the market. In 2025, the company started selling newly mined Bitcoin, and this year it expanded that approach to part of its accumulated stash. In the first nine months of 2026, sales reached 26,984 BTC, pushing the full-year total above 40,000 BTC.
Debt Paid Down
Most of the proceeds went straight to lenders. MARA used $750 million (€670 million) to pay off loans backed by Bitcoin, freeing up 17,477 pledged coins. Less than 5% of the remaining holdings are now still lent out or pledged, down from 57% at the end of September.
The company took out those loans in August to help finance its planned purchase of Long Ridge, a natural gas company. MARA now says it is selling Bitcoin to reduce that financing before the acquisition is completed. The company expects to close the deal in the coming weeks.
Why This Matters for the Market
The move shows how much pressure Bitcoin miners are under. Profitability has been under strain for a while because of higher costs and the halving in April 2024, which cut the block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. At the same time, more miners are looking for extra revenue outside mining, including through AI and high-performance computing.
MARA fits that trend exactly. The company said it wants to use its remaining Bitcoin for AI infrastructure, while it also sees room for a data center campus at Long Ridge and at a site in Texas. Revenue fell 35% in the third quarter to $164 million (€147 million), although MARA did report a profit of $632 million (€565 million) thanks to an accounting boost from the higher Bitcoin price. Other miners are also shifting capital toward AI: VanEck Says Bitcoin Miners With AI Pivot Are Severely Undervalued recently pointed out that this shift is mainly about scarce power and data center capacity.