Bitcoin miner MARA (formerly Marathon Digital) has successfully closed an upsized $950 million private offering of 0% convertible senior notes due in 2032. This offering, targeted at institutional buyers, exceeded its initial goal of $850 million due to strong investor demand, signaling a strategic move to acquire more of the leading cryptocurrency.
MARA is taking a page from Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), leveraging debt to increase its Bitcoin holdings. This trend of companies, including crypto miners, adding Bitcoin and other digital assets to their balance sheets aims to boost stock valuations.
Currently, MARA holds 50,000 BTC, valued at approximately $5.9 billion, positioning it as the second-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, behind only Strategy, according to bitcointreasuries.net.
Despite this aggressive accumulation strategy, MARA's stock performance has seen some recent dips. On Monday, the stock was trading down by nearly 1%, having dropped 10% over the past five days and more than 16% over the past year, even after a summer surge. Bitcoin itself was recently trading just under $118,000, down about 1% in the last 24 hours, after reaching an all-time high above $123,000 earlier this month.
Bitcoin miners like MARA are vital for processing transactions on the Bitcoin network, earning new coins as rewards. However, they face increasing challenges, particularly after last year's halving event slashed rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. This, combined with a more competitive mining environment, has led some miners to diversify. For instance, BitMine Immersion and Bit Digital have built a substantial Ethereum treasury, while others are exploring AI-related ventures.
Many miners are often compelled to sell newly minted cryptocurrency to cover operational costs. However, MARA has famously adopted a "HODL strategy," asserting its commitment to never selling its newly acquired Bitcoin.
This substantial debt offering highlights MARA's conviction in Bitcoin's long-term value, even as the mining landscape evolves.
July 2025, Cryptoniteuae