New York, Feb 7, 2026, 09:33 (ET) — The market has closed.
- MARA finished Friday with a 22.4% jump, settling at $8.24. Shares kept climbing after hours, touching $8.42. 1
- Blockchain records indicate MARA transferred close to $87 million in bitcoin, drawing more attention to miners’ liquidity positions amid volatile crypto prices. 2
Shares of MARA Holdings, Inc. surged 22.3% to $8.24 by Friday’s close, trading roughly 82.4 million shares. As for Bitcoin, it hovered near $68,928 on Saturday.
The weekend break makes a difference, with miners such as MARA often acting as a noisy, quick gauge of risk appetite. “The market looks like it was getting a bit overdone to the downside,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, who cited technical buying after a tough run for tech and other risk-heavy assets. 3
The impact goes both ways. This week, a Reuters story pointed out that bitcoin’s drop has hit “digital asset treasury” companies—publicly traded firms that keep crypto on their balance sheets—raising doubts about their ability to tap new funding if prices remain low. “As Bitcoin continues its slide below the psychological barrier of $70,000, it’s clear the crypto market is now in full capitulation mode,” said Nic Puckrin, co-founder at Coin Bureau, a crypto analysis platform. 4
MARA caught some notice after a hefty on-chain move. According to Arkham Intelligence, cited by CryptoBriefing, the company shifted 1,318 bitcoin—valued around $87 million—over to Galaxy Digital, Two Prime and BitGo this Thursday. 5
Transfers like these aren’t unusual—miners often move coins around, whether it’s to custody accounts or on private “over-the-counter” desks for large trades—but when prices are falling, they rarely go over well. MARA focuses on bitcoin mining, and also holds onto digital assets for the long haul, per its Reuters company profile. 6
The move wasn’t just in MARA. Shares of Riot Platforms jumped 19.7% to $14.45. CleanSpark climbed even more, up 21.7% at $10.08.
Still, traders aren’t shying away from hedging. According to Reuters, interest in bitcoin options for downside cover has picked up, with a spotlight on $60,000 and $50,000 strikes expiring Feb. 27. “Demand for downside protection is extreme,” said Sean Dawson, head of research at Derive.xyz. 7
Weekend news underscored just how fragile crypto infrastructure can be. Bithumb, a South Korean exchange, accidentally handed out over $40 billion in bitcoin during a promotion—a mistake the firm insisted was “unrelated to external hacking or security breaches.” Regulators flagged the blunder as a sign of deeper weaknesses, and inspections could be next. 8
Stateside, a Form 4 from MARA revealed General Counsel Zabi Nowaid saw shares withheld for tax reasons linked to restricted stock units vesting, as opposed to an open market sale, according to the filing. 9
Looking ahead to the U.S. session Monday, Feb. 9, traders are eyeing bitcoin’s attempt to climb back to $70,000. They’re also watching miners to see if Friday’s rally holds or slips away. On the calendar, the Feb. 27 bitcoin options expiry stands out—hedging flows are clustering around the $60,000 to $50,000 band.
