MARA Holdings, once a major bitcoin miner, has dramatically shifted its strategy by selling $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in the first quarter of 2026. This move, which involved offloading 20,880 BTC at an average price of $70,137, has seen the company slide from the second to the fourth largest public holder of the cryptocurrency. The proceeds were largely used to repurchase convertible notes, bolstering the firm’s financial flexibility.
The company’s latest financial report reveals a significant drop in revenue, which fell by 18% year-over-year to $174.6 million, and a net loss of $1.26 billion, attributed mainly to a 22% decline in bitcoin’s value during the quarter. As of March, MARA held 35,303 BTC, valued at around $2.4 billion.
MARA is now redefining itself as a digital infrastructure company focused on converting energy into high-value computing tasks, with artificial intelligence and high-performance computing becoming central to its operations. Management has indicated that up to 90% of its non-hosted mining capacity could eventually be repurposed for AI and critical IT workloads. Additionally, the company has no immediate plans to buy more bitcoin mining hardware.
In a move to solidify its AI ambitions, MARA has agreed to acquire Long Ridge Energy and Power, a 505-megawatt gas plant in Ohio, for $1.5 billion. The site, spanning 1,600 acres, has the potential to support over one gigawatt of AI and computing capacity. A joint venture with Starwood Capital, announced earlier, is also progressing, with MARA providing energy-rich sites and Starwood handling design and construction.
This pivot mirrors a broader trend among publicly traded miners shifting towards AI. For instance, Core Scientific is converting its Texas site into a massive AI data center, while IREN completed a $3.4 billion deal with Nvidia. Since late 2024, public miners have collectively secured over $70 billion in AI infrastructure contracts.
Fred Thiel, MARA’s CEO, emphasizes that bitcoin mining remains foundational but is now a stepping stone for broader computing services. The company also acquired a controlling stake in Exaion, a French AI and HPC data center operator, for $174.5 million during the quarter.