Marathon Digital Makes $100 Million BTC Purchase, Points To Institutional Interest

One of the leading bitcoin (BTC) miners, Marathon Digital (MARA), has acquired bitcoin worth  $100 million from the open market and stated it will resume its strategy to retain every mined bitcoin in its account.

In a statement, the miner noted that it now has more than 20,000 BTC on its account, currently worth almost $1.3 billion. The company also shared its plans to purchase more Bitcoin from the open market.

The Plunge In Bitcoin Price Gave The Firm The Opportunity To Enhance Its Holdings

The Chief Financial Officer of Marathon Digital, Salman Khan, said that thanks to the drop in the price of bitcoin and the financial health of its balance sheet, the firm was able to increase its holdings. He added that the team wants to continue to use their technical skills to support Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The choice to adopt a HODL strategy or hold onto Bitcoin comes nearly a year after Marathon began selling its mined cryptocurrencies to fund operating expenses. Before the crypto slump, most miners opted to maintain all mined bitcoin in their accounts, which proved advantageous in the bull market surge.

As the market crashed in 2024, several miners began to market their mined bitcoin to cover operating costs. Marathon was among the last companies to begin converting their digital assets into money in early 2023.

The chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marathon, Fred Thiel, stated that embracing a complete HODL plan shows that the company is confident in the future worth of Bitcoin. He added that the firm believes bitcoin is the top reserve asset and backs the concept of sovereign wealth funds owning it. Thiel further said the team encourages businesses and governments to keep Bitcoin as a backup asset.

Marathon Will Focus On Increasing Its Balance Sheet Holdings

After the long bear market, bitcoin began to get back its losses this year when BlackRock and others got approval to bring spot BTC ETFs to the U.S. market. This brought new investors and helped Bitcoin hit its peak price. Bitcoin has dropped from its peak of more than $70,000 and is now trading at about $64,000, showing a 51% rise this year.

Khan stated that considering Bitcoin’s current favorable conditions, such as greater institutional backing and a better macroeconomic environment, the firm is reinstating this strategy. He added that the company will also concentrate on increasing its balance sheet holdings.

As of June 30, Marathon had $268 million in cash and will release its Q2 income on Aug. 1. The miner’s stock is down approximately 2.5% in pre-market trading, with bitcoin falling by a similar amount over the past day. The CoinDesk20 Index likewise declined 5.4% in that time frame.