Marathon is the latest publicly traded company to convert a share of its reserves into cash with bitcoin and, with 4.812,66 BTC registered, one of the largest in terms of investment size.
Marathon CEO Merrick Okamoto said buying bitcoin "accelerates" the transformation of his mining firm into a "pure bitcoin investment option" for cryptocurrency-hungry Wall Street investors.
Wall Street traders already have some options on this front, some more creative than others. There's Square, the payment company and owner of the Cash App with 4.702 BTC. And there's Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which bought over 600.000 BTC (quotation BTC) for its investors, many of which are institutional.
But the Nasdaq's most conspicuous vehicle of indirect bitcoin exposure is perhaps business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, whose semi-regular bitcoin purchases (it now holds 70.784 coins) have courted investors and raised MSTR's share price by 370%. since July.
Shares of Bitcoin mining companies followed the recent price boom of the market-leading crypto asset. But Marathon's investment further strengthens its ties, seeking to anchor its bitcoin appeal even more with the investment.
While other public cryptocurrency miners such as Riot Blockchain and Hut 8 (a Canadian company) have also put bitcoin on their balance sheet, some larger miners have amassed their resources by mining and storing cryptocurrencies, in a direct investment model.
Looking at the numbers, they have been more successful. In the third quarter of 2020, Riot posted mining revenue of $ 2,4 million and Hut 8 reported $ 4 million. Marathon, much smaller in size, generated only $ 835.184 in revenue over the same period.
The bitcoin mining industry is now going through what Okamoto has called an "arms race" for new plants. More mining machines mean more mining power which means more bitcoin potentially, and Marathon is racing to catch up.
Marathon entered 2021 intent on growing, with CEO Okamoto racing to win the mining rig's "arms race". Determined to push the number of plants to over 103.000 by next year, the company raised $ 200 million in early January and another $ 250 million just over a week later.
Okamoto said the capital infusions will fund corporate expansions. The company will need some time to reach its mining capacity goals. Meanwhile, it is leveraging its cash "to invest in bitcoin now," Okamoto said.
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