MARA, former known as Marathon Digital Holdings, has reported a significant 17% increase in Bitcoin (BTC) production for the month of July, as per the latest company update. The rise in production, coupled with other strategic initiatives, has positively impacted MARA stock, which saw a 3% increase. Earlier, the stock plummeted over 17% amid the U.S. stock market crash amid recession fears.
MARA Bitcoin Production Production & Hash Rate Growth
In July, the Bitcoin miner successfully completed a hash rate recovery effort at its Ellendale facility, hosted by Applied Digital. This effort contributed to a notable 27% increase in block wins compared to the previous month. The BTC mining company produced 692 BTC in July, up from 591 BTC in June. Additionally, MARA’s average operational hash rate grew by 5% to 27.5 exahashes per second (EH/s).
Fred Thiel, MARA’s chairman and CEO, emphasized the company’s aggressive mining strategy amid a fluctuating BTC price. “We will continue to mine aggressively while global hash rate comes offline due to a lower BTC price and use all the tools at our disposal related to mining economics for maximum production,” Thiel stated.
Furthermore, the Bitcoin miner has begun deploying its own technology to improve the efficiency of its mining operations. A significant portion of the company’s Granbury site is transitioning from air-cooled to immersion containers. This move is expected to enhance performance but temporarily lower the site’s hash rate.
The first group of 18 immersion containers is set to energize in August, with the entire deployment slated for completion by year-end. Thiel acknowledged the temporary impact on the Granbury site’s performance. However, he expressed confidence in meeting the company’s 2024 hash rate goal of 50 EH/s.
“We remain focused on delivering on our 2024 hash rate goal of 50 exahash and continue to install and energize miners according to plan,” he said. In July, the Bitcoin miner energized nearly 5,000 new miners. It also removing and relocating approximately 10,000 existing miners as part of its fleet optimization strategy.
Currently, MARA operating fleet comprises around 245,000 Bitcoin miners capable of producing 31.8 EH/s. It boasts a peak overall hash rate of 30.1 EH/s achieved during the month.
Also Read: Bitcoin ETF Outflows Drop As US Futures Stage Strong Recovery
BTC HODLing Strategy & MARA Stock Performance
The company also reported holding a total of 20,818 unrestricted BTC as of July 31, 2024. Notably, MARA did not sell any BTC in July, having adopted a full HODL approach to its BTC treasury policy. This strategy includes retaining all BTC mined and making periodic strategic open market purchases.
Financially, MARA is on solid ground with $242.1 million in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet at the end of July, $230.1 million of which is unrestricted. Combining this with the value of its BTC holdings, MARA’s total unrestricted cash and BTC amounted to $1,587.1 million as of July 31, 2024.
The Bitcoin mining company’s strategic initiatives and strong financial health have positively influenced its stock performance. After the announcement, the MARA stock gained 3.03% and traded at $17.46 on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. However, the stock soon extended into the red owing to geopolitical tensions and market uncertainty.
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