New York, March 27, 2026, 9:06 AM EDT
Shares of MARA Holdings, Inc. moved higher in premarket trading Friday, gaining roughly 3.6% to $8.58. The uptick followed news that the bitcoin miner raised about $1.1 billion by selling bitcoin, using the proceeds for a discounted buyback of its debt. Bitcoin itself slipped close to 4%, with peers Riot Platforms down 7.6% and CleanSpark falling 6.6%.
This shift hits right at the core of the pressure piling up on the industry. Bitcoin mining, which relies on energy-intensive machines to keep the blockchain running and collect tokens, is getting tougher. Power costs are climbing. Network difficulty? Up again. Miners, meanwhile, are scrambling for capital to pivot toward AI opportunities. MARA reported a 6% drop in fourth-quarter revenue. Its energy spend per bitcoin soared to $48,611, up from $31,608 the year before. With digital asset prices sliding, MARA ended up with a $1.7 billion net loss.
MARA unloaded 15,133 bitcoin between March 4 and March 25 and struck a deal to buy back about $367.5 million of its 2030 notes, plus $633.4 million in 2031 notes, shelling out roughly $912.8 million in total cash. These convertible notes—debt that can morph into equity—get bought back below face value, so MARA trims future share dilution. According to the company, the move should lock in an estimated $88.1 million in value before expenses and chop about 30% from the total convertible debt outstanding.
Fred Thiel, the chief executive, described the sale as a “strategic capital allocation move” designed to “strengthen our balance sheet,” with MARA moving past its roots in straightforward bitcoin mining. Earlier hints showed up in the company’s annual report, where it outlined a broader 2026 treasury policy—now permitting sales of bitcoin already on the balance sheet, instead of restricting sales to coins generated through operations. MARA
Friday’s split action made the point: MARA climbed, while other miners slipped, as traders singled out a balance-sheet play rather than just tracking bitcoin’s drop. Back in December, Matthew Sigel of VanEck’s Onchain Economy ETF told Reuters mining stocks had drawn support from “digital assets via their bitcoin exposure and AI.” But he flagged rising concerns over debt and financing pressures as well. Reuters
MARA has been pushing hard on that pivot for several weeks now. Back in February, the company struck a deal with Starwood Digital Ventures—aiming to build out, finance, and run AI and HPC infrastructure at MARA facilities. The partnership’s initial goal: about 1 gigawatt of IT capacity, with expansion plans targeting 2.5 gigawatts and beyond. At the time, Barry Sternlicht, who leads Starwood Capital, called data centers the “infrastructure responsible for driving the modern economy.” MARA
By the close of 2025, MARA’s bitcoin stash stood at 53,822—valued near $4.7 billion. Unrestricted cash and digital holdings pushed total liquidity to $5.3 billion. It’s a hefty buffer, yet the company remains heavily exposed to crypto market volatility.
Still, hurdles remain. The repurchases are lined up to close March 30 and March 31, pending the usual conditions. After that, about $2.3 billion in convertible notes will still be on the books, including $1.025 billion maturing in 2032. In its latest annual report, MARA flagged the possibility of having to liquidate bitcoin if market conditions sour. Reuters has also pointed out that turning crypto-mining operations into AI data centers can mean hefty reconstruction costs and slow timelines.
Execution is the wildcard here. Should the buyback wrap up as planned, and if MARA manages to convert Starwood into tangible AI deals plus more reliable cash generation, that Friday rally could stick. On the flip side, more bitcoin slippage or any slowdown on the data-center front would likely erase those gains fast.
