MARA Holdings, a Bitcoin mining company, plans to make a $2 billion stock offering to buy more Bitcoin holdings, combining market forces with cryptocurrencies. MARA wrote a prospectus that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to create a stock offering on the market. A group of investment banks, such as Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, and Cantor Fitzgerald, created an at-the-market (ATM) program to make proceeds from selling shares and then use the money to buy Bitcoin holdings. MARA Holdings, previously known as Marathon Digital Holdings, operates one of the largest Bitcoin mining operations worldwide. The sales of the stock offering will first go to the investment banks, taking a 3% commision, and then will be used to buy more Bitcoin. The shares will be listed on exchanges such as Nasdaq. The prospectus stipulates that the stock offering will occur with multiple sales agents, providing a way to get $2 billion in revenue. The venture is a good example of a Bitcoin company using market forces to combine traditional finance with new forms of blockchain innovation. MARA has been buying more of its mining facilities, with the aim of having direct control over its equipment and improving the efficiency and profitability of its mining operations. MARA currently owns 70% of its facilities and is already using this increased autonomy to invest in renewable energy projects. Michael Saylor created the strategy to offer convertible bonds on the market, raising a large amount of equity and creating a Bitcoin treasury. MARA has a treasury of 46,376 BTC, and Strategy has a treasury of 506,137 BTC. MARA has the second-biggest treasury among publicly listed companies and could aim to grow that amount. MARA Holdings is a leader in crypto mining with operations on four continents, a particular focus on Bitcoin, and an interest in creating sustainable mining methods without negatively affecting the environment. MARA aims to have low-cost operations, such as owning their property and equipment outright, diversifying into other blockchain and artificial intelligence industries, and maintaining strict environmental policies during the whole process. The Bitcoin Halving, an inflation-busting algorithm created by Satoshi Nakamoto, caused problems for the mining industry because the miners get less revenue with every halving event. The miners were already getting profitable returns, using their operations to drive growth, but now needed other methods to maintain a reasonable amount of profit post halving. Therefore, creating an open market to build a Bitcoin treasury became a much more profitable option for the mining companies. The halving event happened last year, explaining the sudden urgency for MARA to build their treasury suddenly. Fred Thiel, MARA CEO, said that the company was going ‘full HODL’ with future operations, holding mined Bitcoin instead of selling the newly minted crypto and further buying more Bitcoin from other sources, such as with a public share offering.
