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On Tuesday, Marathon Digital Holdings, a leading bitcoin mining company listed on public markets, revealed its acquisition of two fully operational bitcoin mining facilities, representing a combined capacity of 390 megawatts (MW). For these facilities, Marathon invested a total of $178.6 million in cash, averaging $458,000 per MW.
Marathon Boosts Mining Capacity Ahead of Bitcoin Halving
Marathon‘s (Nasdaq: MARA) strategic expansion includes the acquisition of two bitcoin mining locations in Texas and Nebraska, previously owned by Generate Capital subsidiaries. This move marks Marathon’s transition from an “asset-light organization” to one possessing a substantial portfolio of mining operations. The acquired sites provide a substantial 390 MW of power, with the purchase amounting to $178.6 million, paid entirely in cash.
Marathon anticipates that this acquisition will decrease its bitcoin discovery costs by 30% over time. The announcement on Tuesday says the company’s strategy involves leveraging its existing capacity for its mining infrastructure, enhancing its hashrate, and streamlining operational efficiency. Currently, Marathon has committed to acquiring miners with a total capacity of 7 exahash per second (EH/s), with the first installment expected to be delivered and installed by January 2024.
“By acquiring the sites in Granbury, Texas and Kearney, Nebraska from Generate, we have an opportunity to reduce our bitcoin production costs at these sites, to capitalize on energy hedging opportunities, and to expand our operational capacity,” said Fred Thiel, Marathon’s chairman and CEO. The Marathon chief added:
This transaction increases the size of our bitcoin mining portfolio by 56% from 584 megawatts to 910 megawatts of capacity, and it also provides us with a roadmap to double our current operational hash rate to approximately 50 exahashes over the next 18-24 months.
The latter half of 2023 has seen substantial growth in the mining industry, as miners gear up for the anticipated 2024 Bitcoin halving event. Major mining companies have been actively purchasing or pre-ordering thousands of next-generation application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bitcoin mining machines from leading manufacturers such as Microbt and Bitmain.
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