By Michael Scott
Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital ditched selling BTC, instead to hodl as institutional adoption grows.
Nasdaq-listed Marathon Digital (MARA) revealed in Thursday’s official statement that the addition of Bitcoin is valued at $100 million. Adding BTC to the balance sheet affirms that the miner fully embraces the Hodl strategy.
Marathon Hodl Strategy in Bitcoin
The purchase lifts the total BTC holdings to 20,000 with a market value above $1.3 billion. Going forward, the world’s largest mining firm will freeze further sales of Bitcoin. In particular, the miner cited improved macroeconomic and rising institutional adoption.
Marathon Digital ruled out selling a single Satoshi, the least BTC unit. A recent X post by the firm states that MARA would immediately embrace the full HODL strategy.
The communication by the mining company indicates that it intends to retain all of the Bitcoin produced. The mining firm will also periodically make strategic BTC purchases on the open market.
MARA’s share price is up 7.74% on the day to exchange hands at $21.85, translating to $5.54 billion market capitalization. The stock price has maintained the day’s range at $20.83 – $21.44. While Marathon Digital is down 12.94% in its five-day performance, its three-month performance is up 10.42%, per MarketWatch data.
The Marathon’s move mirrors other public companies’ initiative to embrace Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset. Notably, MARA joins Semler Scientific, Canada-based DeFi Technologies, and Japan’s MetaPlanet, which are looking after Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR).
The stock price of the above companies has surged immediately upon news of the Bitcoin treasury strategy. A notable example is MetaPlanet, whose stock is up 1,200% in its year-to-date.
In recent years, MARA has deployed a hybrid approach in trading units with the broader BTC market. Simultaneously, MARA holds some BTC in the reserves.
The full hodl strategy by MARA contrasts the approach of mining companies such as Irish Energy Limited (IREN), which prioritizes liquidating its Bitcoin. Marathon portrays a departure from regularly selling BTC over the past 12 months.
MARA Trails in Cost-Effective Mining
Marathon Digital’s move to preserve the coins is possibly attributed to the growing institutional adoption. Moreover, market observers and crypto analysts have offered a bullish outlook on Bitcoin fueled by a positive macro environment.
A recent report by US banking giant JPMorgan disclosed that Marathon was mining Bitcoin at a scale unmatched by other miners in June. Nonetheless, MARA’s BTC per EH/s rate trailed other rivals. The metric that indicates the capability of the firm to mine BTC cost-effectively. Marathon trails IREN, Bitfarms (BITF) and CleasSpark (CLSK).
Bitcoin has seen its total hash rate explode and edged closer to its peak levels. The latest leap could translate to 11% mining difficulty, setting its highest level. Doing so would create tighter margins for the entire mining business.
Marathon’s decision to purchase $100M worth of Bitcoin indicates that it considers it more valuable to buy BTC within the short term as opposed to investing in the mining infrastructure.
Marathon chief executive Fred Thiel indicates that Bitcoin has proven to be the best treasury reserve asset globally. It supports the principle of sovereign wealth funds that hold the coin. The executive urged the governments and corporations to consider holding the BTC as a reserve asset.
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