Marathon Digital Discards HODL Strategy: Sells BTC After More Than 2 Years

Marathon Digital Holdings – one of the leading bitcoin miners – mined 687 BTC in January 2023, a 45% increase compared to the last month of 2022. 

However, the company shifted from its non-selling strategy, parting with 1,500 BTC to cover operational expenses.

Change of Plans

Marathon started the year by producing 687 BTC in January, a significant increase compared to 475 BTC in December 2022. Fred Thiel – Chairman and CEO – explained that the better results resulted from the “team’s ability to work in tandem” with the new hosting provider in McCamey, Texas. 

“We believe the improvements in our operational efficiency, along with the proactive measures we have taken to strengthen our balance sheet, have placed Marathon in a strong position to achieve our growth and operational targets in 2023,” he stated.

However, bitcoin’s price surge during the first month of 2023 pushed Marathon to sell 1,500 BTC of its holdings. The generated funds will cover operating expenses and will be used for general corporate purposes. This is the first time since October 2020 that the firm has decided to cash out a portion of its stash.

Its total ownings stand at 11,418 BTC, of which 8,090 BTC (around $190 million at current prices) are unrestricted. In addition, Marathon ended the month with $133.8 million in unrestricted cash on hand.

The company aims to optimize its mining performance throughout 2023 and install around 23 exahashes of computing power by the middle of the year.

“We remain confident in our ability to scale Marathon into one of the largest and most energy-efficient Bitcoin mining operations globally,” it announced.

The crypto miner, which entered Nasdaq in 2013, saw its shares surging in the past month. Currently, MARA trades at approximately $8, a 135% increase compared to the beginning of 2023.

The Exposure to Compute North

As CryptoPotato reported in December last year, Marathon mulled acquiring the distressed data center Compute North Holdings. It hired professionals and discussed the matter with Guggenheim Partners and Weil Gotshal & Manges.

Compute North was among the main hosting providers for Marathon, installing over 68,000 bitcoin mining machines in its wind-powered Texas facilities in Q3, 2022. Due to regulatory problems, 40,000 of those units remained switched off. 

The data center filed for bankruptcy protection at the end of September, while Marathon disclosed a total exposure of over $80 million.

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