MARA launches foundation to fund Bitcoin research, education, and open source work

MARA Holdings launched the MARA Foundation, a new initiative focused on strengthening Bitcoin’s long term security, sovereignty, and accessibility through protocol research, open source development, self custody infrastructure, policy advocacy, and global education.

Today at @TheBitcoinConf, @MARA CEO @fgthiel announced the launch of MARA Foundation.

The MARA Foundation represents MARA’s strategic commitment to supporting the health of the Bitcoin network, outside of our responsibilities as miners alone.

We believe Bitcoin embodies the… pic.twitter.com/3HHWF6jPiT

— MARA Foundation (@MARAFoundation_) April 27, 2026

The foundation was unveiled at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas, debuting with a $100,000 contribution that will be awarded to one of three organizations selected by a community vote.

Voting is open through the MARA Foundation website until 3:00 p.m. PST on April 29, with Bitcoin 2026 attendees also able to vote in person at MARA’s booth.

The three candidates are SateNet, which focuses on low cost community run wireless internet services powered by Bitcoin in the global South, the 256 Foundation, a public charity funding open source Bitcoin mining hardware and software developers, and Libreria de Satoshi, which works to expand Bitcoin technical education across languages and regions.

MARA framed the foundation as an extension of its role in Bitcoin mining and network security. Fred Thiel, the company’s chairman and CEO, said MARA’s daily role in helping secure the Bitcoin network gives it a responsibility to invest in the protocol’s long term health, not just its short term economics.

The launch comes as MARA continues to position itself as a broader digital energy and compute infrastructure company. In March, MARA sold 15,133 Bitcoin for approximately $1.1 billion between March 4 and March 25 to fund a $1 billion repurchase of its 2030 and 2031 convertible senior notes at a roughly 9% discount, reducing its total convertible debt by about 30%.

The company said the move was designed to increase financial flexibility as it expands beyond pure Bitcoin mining into digital energy and AI and high performance computing infrastructure.