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The largest publicly traded miner, MARA Holdings (formerly Marathon Digital), has returned to its cryptocurrency accumulation strategy by suddenly purchasing 1,292 BTC worth about $100 million, according to on-chain data by Arkham Intelligence.
The deal marks a sharp reversal in the policy of a company that has spent the past six months aggressively selling assets to fund a large-scale expansion into artificial intelligence.
Not gone, just having second thoughts: How MARA is trying to fall between two stools
The transaction was executed through the over-the-counter (OTC) desk of broker FalconX, with the exact amount of the deal totaling $98.64 million, while the average purchase price was $76,347 per coin.
In the first half of 2026, MARA acted as a net seller. The company sold more than 20,880 BTC worth approximately $1.5 billion to pay down debt and finance its new business: building data centers for high-performance computing (HPC) and AI.
Using the proceeds, the miner repurchased its convertible bonds maturing in 2030–2031 ahead of schedule.
As a result of the large-scale restructuring, the balance in MARA's operating wallets fell to 9,658 BTC ($729.7 million at the current Bitcoin price of $75,494). At the same time, according to on-chain data, the bulk of the company's reserves — more than 25,000 BTC — remains in custody with Fidelity Custody.
MARA's return to buying comes amid intense pressure on the industry. According to CoinShares, in the second quarter of 2026, the average cost of mining one BTC for publicly traded miners soared to $75,500, while the digital asset's price stood at $58,400 at the end of the quarter, pushing the sector's overall profitability below breakeven.
In June, the average hashprice fell to an all-time low of $27.7/PH/s/day. The crisis is already forcing industry players to incur costs simply to exit the business. Core Scientific, for example, paid $41.9 million to cancel an order for equipment with a capacity of 15 EH/s, while a number of smaller miners have begun winding down operations.
This sudden $100 million purchase confirms that MARA is successfully implementing a hybrid business model. The company continues its aggressive AI expansion but is not abandoning mining, using its AI infrastructure as a high-margin technological foundation and Bitcoin as its main financial asset on the balance sheet.
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
