Bitcoin Miner Marathon Purchases $618 Million Worth of BTC

Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital paid $618 million in cash to acquire approximately 6,484 bitcoins, according to a new SEC filing.

The Florida company appears to have bought near the high, paying an average of $95,352 per BTC including fees and expenses. As of this writing, the price of Bitcoin has settled just below $95,000 after peaking above $98,000 this morning, according to CoinGecko data.

The company’s shareholders seem to like the news. As of Monday afternoon during EU trading hours, MARA shares were 1.9% higher than when trading closed on Friday afternoon.

Marathon shares, which trade on Nasdaq, closed at $26.85 on Friday after falling 2%. However, news of Bitcoin purchases seems to have all but erased that decline.

The company also announced that it will begin raising up to $700 million in a private offering to institutional buyers starting today.

“MARA expects to use up to $50 million of the net proceeds from the sale of the Notes to repurchase a portion of its existing Convertible Notes due 2026 (the “Existing 2026 Convertible Notes”) in a privately negotiated transaction. Here’s the rest: “Additional Bitcoin will be acquired and used for general corporate purposes, which may include working capital, strategic acquisitions, expanding existing assets and repaying additional debt,” the SEC filing reads. and any other outstanding obligations.”

This is not the first time Marathon has issued convertible bonds to repurchase some of its debt and add to its Bitcoin coffers. Last November, the Bitcoin miner announced an $850 million offer, saying it holds an option to expand that offer to $1 billion.

The recent Bitcoin acquisition brings Marathon Digital’s corporate BTC treasury to $3.3 billion. This makes it Bitcoin’s second-largest corporate holder, though by a wide margin behind laser-eyed behemoth MicroStrategy.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries, the software company founded by Bitcoiner Michael Saylor has amassed nearly $37 billion worth of BTC.