NEW YORK, March 12, 2026, 3:35 PM EDT
MARA Holdings jumped roughly 1.1% to $8.64 as of Thursday afternoon, sidestepping losses seen elsewhere among bitcoin miners while bitcoin itself dipped 0.5% to $70,331. Riot Platforms dropped 1.4%; CleanSpark slid 3.6%.
This comes into sharper focus now, with MARA’s reliance on bitcoin still significant. As of Dec. 31, the company held 53,822 bitcoin—valued near $4.7 billion at year-end, according to its March 2 annual filing—even as executives leaned harder into AI and high-performance computing, both of which demand serious energy for massive data tasks.
On Feb. 26, the company revealed it had reached a strategic deal with Starwood, aiming to transform select U.S. mining properties into digital infrastructure catering to enterprise, hyperscale, and AI clients. The two companies mapped out about 1 gigawatt of data center capacity ready in the near term, targeting over 2.5 GW down the line. Notably, certain sites could toggle between bitcoin mining and AI computing, depending on pricing shifts and demand.
Fred Thiel, chief executive, pointed to MARA’s sites as offering customers “predictable access to energy at scale.” Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht put it bluntly: data centers are “driving the modern economy.” MARA
The expansion push came alongside a punishing set of figures. MARA’s 10-K reported 2025 revenue jumping 38% to $907.1 million. Still, the bottom line flipped hard—net loss attributable to MARA landed at about $1.31 billion, after posting a $541.3 million profit the prior year. The company also logged a $422.2 million hit from bitcoin fair-value changes and booked $82.8 million in goodwill impairment.
MARA pulled in 8,799 bitcoin in 2025, a drop from 9,430 the year before. Still, average prices for mined coins jumped to $101,221 from $66,249. Starting in the second half of 2025, the company began selling some of its bitcoin to cover operational costs and says it plans to continue cashing in holdings opportunistically this year.
Across the industry, the numbers are starting to line up the same way. Bitfarms CEO Ben Gagnon told Reuters that AI and HPC clients promise “stable, long-term revenue.” Back in December, Reuters also reported Hut 8 locked in a $7 billion AI data-center lease, a sign that ex-bitcoin miners are moving to cash in on surging demand for AI infrastructure. Reuters
The AI angle is far from locked in. According to MARA’s 8-K, Starwood faces a checklist: due diligence, permits, power, and landing a hyperscale cloud customer—all must happen before any project gets a true go-ahead.
The 10-K didn’t sugarcoat the risks. Big capital calls loom, control over joint-venture decisions can be scarce, and there’s always the risk of dilution—or even having to unload land—if funding dries up or negotiations sour. Tenants, permits, and schedules could also misalign, any of which could throw a wrench in the works.
So far, investors seem content to price in some of MARA’s AI potential, though the stock’s fate is still tied to bitcoin. Thursday’s rally hinted both narratives are active, but a bigger swing probably hinges on crypto moves and if the Starwood plan leads to actual tenant deals and construction cash.
