MARA's bitcoin quarter is funding a larger bet on power and AI
MARA mined 2,422 bitcoin and held 35,577 BTC at June 30, while revenue fell 27% and the company booked a $611.3 million net loss.
By The Third AnglePublished 4 min read
Bitcoin mining equipment at an Argo Blockchain facility in Quebec, used as an illustrative image for MARA's mining and infrastructure results. Photo: MikeBogosian / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
MARA's second-quarter results put two businesses on the same page: a bitcoin miner with measurable output and a power developer still trying to turn a large infrastructure thesis into contracted revenue. In its shareholder letter, MARA reported $174.9 million of revenue, down 27% from a year earlier, and a $611.3 million net loss.
The quarter's operating base was stronger than the headline loss suggests. Energized hashrate rose 22% to 70.3 exahash per second, and the company mined 2,422 bitcoin across 700 blocks. Purchased energy cost $48.8 million, or about $0.04 per kilowatt-hour, and the purchased energy cost per bitcoin was $38,690.
Mining cash flow meets mark-to-market risk
MARA sold 2,213 bitcoin during the quarter at an average price of $73,078 and ended June with 35,577 BTC. The company says 9,270 of those coins were loaned or pledged, which matters when readers compare the reported balance with immediately available liquidity. MARA bought no bitcoin in the quarter.
The net loss included a $343.0 million fair-value loss on digital assets, the accounting effect of bitcoin prices moving against the balance sheet during the reporting period. MARA also said it had $2.5 billion of combined unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and bitcoin at June 30. After the quarter, it arranged $600 million of bitcoin-backed facilities with Coinbase and Two Prime and refinanced an existing $150 million Coinbase facility.
Power is the next operating test
MARA's larger ambition is to monetize power, land and grid access for AI and other high-performance computing. The company says its proposed Long Ridge transaction is awaiting FERC review, while its Matagorda County, Texas site could provide access to 2 gigawatts of powered land subject to ERCOT and interconnection work. It also describes a wider portfolio of up to 4.8 gigawatts, a company target rather than current operating capacity.
Lease discussions are progressing, and MARA says it is confident it can sign at least one lease before year-end. That is the point where the story moves from power optionality to revenue evidence.
