NEW YORK, April 2, 2026, 6:04 PM EDT
MARA Holdings jumped roughly 8% in late U.S. trade Thursday, outpacing most crypto-mining rivals. Investors reacted to the company’s move: selling bitcoin to pay down debt, while also expanding further into artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The shares traded near $8.71 late.
Bitcoin slipped to around $66,932 on Thursday, far from the $87,498 price MARA used to mark its holdings at the end of last year. The company’s annual report shows a change: MARA widened its 2026 treasury policy, now permitting it to sell bitcoin sitting on its own balance sheet.
MARA announced on March 26 that it had offloaded 15,133 bitcoin, generating about $1.1 billion. The miner plans to put that cash toward buying back approximately $1.0 billion of its convertible notes—set to mature in 2030 and 2031—at a discount. Those notes could eventually convert into shares. The company expects the repurchase to trim its convertible debt pile by around 30% and unlock $88.1 million in value before costs, while also limiting potential dilution if the notes were to turn into equity.
Fred Thiel, the chief executive, described the sale as a “strategic capital allocation move,” saying it would “strengthen our balance sheet” while MARA pushes past its roots in bitcoin mining. At the close of 2025, the company held 53,822 bitcoin—worth about $4.7 billion—plus $547.1 million in cash and cash equivalents. Convertible notes outstanding stood at roughly $3.3 billion. MARA
Balance-sheet cleanup stands out for 2025. MARA took a $422.2 million hit on the fair value of its bitcoin stash last year, with net losses reaching $1.31 billion.
MARA, in its 10-K, put its operation at 18 data centers and roughly 1.9 gigawatts of total capacity. Now, it’s looking to convert some powered mining sites into facilities aimed at high-performance computing—think AI and other demanding workloads. On Feb. 26, the company announced a joint venture with Starwood Digital Ventures that could quickly bring about 1 gigawatt of data-center capacity online, and possibly scale beyond 2.5 gigawatts. Thiel pointed to customers’ need for “predictable access to energy at scale.” Starwood’s chairman Barry Sternlicht expects the partnership to generate “significant value.” MARA
Mining stocks climbed Thursday, but not by much. Riot Platforms picked up roughly 2.6%, IREN advanced 1.9%, and Cipher Digital edged up 1.6%. Bitcoin, on the other hand, slipped almost 2%, changing hands near $66,932.
Wall Street’s doubts came through during the Feb. 26 earnings call. Reginald Smith at JPMorgan pointed out that MARA was “the last major Bitcoin miner to make the switch.” Over at H.C. Wainwright, Kevin Dede pressed executives on just when the new projects would actually start serving customers. The Motley Fool
There’s the catch: MARA hasn’t disclosed any hyperscale tenants tied to its Starwood partnership, and Thiel made it clear—no dirt will be moved until a customer is locked in. The company’s annual report doesn’t sugarcoat the risks either, flagging volatile bitcoin prices, shifting global hashrate, and network difficulty—all of which can drag on performance.
Thursday’s action suggests investors are willing to acknowledge management’s efforts to reduce leverage, even if that involves cashing in some of the bitcoin stash. Eyes now turn to whether MARA can convert its power assets into actual, contracted AI capacity.
