NEW YORK, January 3, 2026, 06:55 ET — Market closed.
- MARA shares closed up about 10% on Friday as bitcoin mining stocks rebounded into 2026.
- Bitcoin held near $90,000 as risk appetite returned in thin holiday trading.
- Next week’s U.S. jobs and inflation data sit front and center for rate-sensitive, crypto-linked names.
MARA Holdings Inc (MARA.O) shares rose 10.2% on Friday to close at $9.91, extending a rebound in crypto-exposed stocks on the first trading day of 2026. The stock has ranged from $8.95 to $23.45 over the past 52 weeks, highlighting the volatility investors have attached to bitcoin-linked names.
The move matters now because bitcoin miners often trade like a leveraged bet on the token itself. Revenue is tied largely to the bitcoin price, while costs are dominated by electricity and equipment.
Bitcoin was around $89,689 early Saturday, up about 0.3% over the last 24 hours after trading between roughly $88,509 and $90,804.
Friday’s bounce came as U.S. stocks seesawed in what Reuters described as light, post-holiday trading, with the S&P 500 and Dow ending higher and the Nasdaq edging lower. “Today is kind of a holiday trading day, lighter volumes, people not engaged normally,” said Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital in St. Louis. 1
Other miners climbed in tandem. Riot Platforms (RIOT.O) gained about 12% and CleanSpark (CLSK.O) rose about 14% in the same session.
Miners can swing harder than bitcoin because profits hinge on operating leverage — how much bitcoin they can produce relative to their fixed energy and equipment costs. “Hashrate,” the computing power used to mine bitcoin, and the network’s mining difficulty can shift margins quickly.
MARA has been positioning itself as more than a pure-play miner, tying its strategy to power generation and data-center development that can also serve artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads. In a November press release, the company said it signed a letter of intent with MPLX to secure natural gas supply for planned West Texas power generation facilities and data-center campuses, with initial capacity expected to reach about 400 megawatts. 2
In a December letter to MSCI, MARA argued it should not be classified as a “digital asset treasury” company — a label aimed at firms whose primary strategy is holding cryptocurrency on the balance sheet for price exposure. The company said it had about 1.8 gigawatts of energy capacity and 18 data centers across four continents as of Sept. 30, 2025, and said it expected its majority-stake acquisition of AI/HPC data-center operator Exaion to close in January 2026. 3
Before the next session, traders will be watching whether bitcoin can hold its recent range as U.S. data returns to the calendar after a government shutdown delayed some releases. Reuters flagged the Jan. 9 jobs report and the Jan. 13 consumer price index print as early tests for rate expectations and risk appetite. 4
For MARA, the next clear company catalyst is quarterly results. Quartr lists Feb. 27, 2026 as the next earnings date for the company’s fourth-quarter report, while MARA’s investor-relations calendar currently shows no upcoming events scheduled. 5
On the chart, traders are watching the $10 level after Friday’s surge, with the $9 area in view if momentum fades. Volume will matter, given how quickly crypto-linked shares can reverse when bitcoin softens.
