New York, Feb 4, 2026, 12:52 ET — Regular session
- MARA shares dropped nearly 11% by midday, continuing the rollercoaster ride tied to crypto market swings
- Bitcoin dropped close to 4%, dragging mining stocks down across the board
- Filings revealed that share withholdings were linked to executive stock-unit vesting rather than open-market sales
MARA Holdings shares tumbled roughly 11% on Wednesday, closing near $8.02, following a steep plunge in Bitcoin that hit crypto-related stocks hard.
Bitcoin slipped almost 4% to about $72,300. That drop hits miners quickly—revenues track the coin’s price, but many expenses stay constant.
Peers tumbled together. Riot Platforms slid roughly 10%, while CleanSpark plunged close to 13%, highlighting how traders are viewing the group as a high-beta stand-in for crypto’s swings.
Late Tuesday, MARA filed three Form 4 disclosures linked to company insiders. The stock was already feeling the heat from the broader crypto downturn. 1
The filings revealed that CEO Fred Thiel, CFO Salman Hassan Khan, and General Counsel Zabi Nowaid had shares withheld at $9.50 each to cover tax bills from restricted stock unit vesting — the forms specified this was “not an open market sale.” 2
Crypto markets are unusually volatile lately. “Liquidity remains constrained,” said market analyst David Mercer, a factor that leaves prices vulnerable whenever risk appetite wanes. 3
The risk-off mood spilled over into U.S. stocks, as investors pulled back from some tech names following another round of selling in software and cloud sectors. 4
Bitcoin slipped under $73,000 late Tuesday, with some traders watching the mid-$70,000 zone closely as crucial support. Should that break, miners could see steeper declines. 5
One key short-term variable is “mining difficulty” — the network parameter that determines how tough it is to secure a block. The upcoming adjustment is slated for Feb. 7, with forecasts indicating a drop in difficulty. That would boost margins, assuming the coin’s price remains steady. 6
Traders are now eyeing U.S. data releases shuffled by the government shutdown: the Labor Department’s January jobs report will drop Feb. 11, January’s CPI lands Feb. 13, and December’s JOLTS figures arrive Feb. 5. 7
