Bitcoin Miner MARA Boosts BTC Buying Power With Nearly $1 Billion Raise

Bitcoin miner MARA has closed an upsized $950 million private offering to buy more of the leading cryptocurrency. 

The Nasdaq-listed company, formerly known as Marathon Digital, had originally said it would raise $850 million. 

But due to increased demand, MARA upped the amount. It raised the cash via a private sale of 0% convertible senior notes due in 2032, aimed at institutional buyers. 

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based MARA is copying Strategy—formerly MicroStrategy—by using debt to buy the biggest cryptocurrency by market value. A number of firms—including crypto miners—are putting Bitcoin and other digital coins on their balance sheets to boost stock prices. 

MARA currently has 50,000 BTC—worth $5.8 billion—in its coffers, making it the second-largest corporate holder of the leading cryptocurrency after Bitcoin treasury pioneer Strategy, according to bitcointreasuries.net. 

MARA’s stock on Monday was trading down by nearly 1%. The stock has dropped 10% over the past five days after surging earlier in the summer. MARA has fallen more than 16% over the past year. 

Bitcoin was recently trading just below $118,000, down about 1% over the past 24 hours, according to crypto markets data provider CoinGecko. BTC is roughly flat over the past week, a comedown from huge gains earlier this month when it reached an all-time high above $123,000. 

Bitcoin miners like MARA are rewarded with new coins for processing transactions on the Bitcoin network. They have faced increasing challenges after last year’s halving cut rewards from 6.25 to 3.125 and amid a more competitive environment. A number of them have shifted focus from mining. Among others, BitMine Immersion and Bit Digital have built a more than $2 billion Ethereum treasury over the past month. Others are placing new emphasis on artificial intelligence-related ventures. 

Many miners have to sell the newly minted cryptocurrency to cover costs, and MARA has adopted a “HODL strategy” claiming it never wants to sell new coins.