Mara bought $1.5b Bitcoin, plans to acquire more
Marathon Holdings restocked over $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin using proceeds from its convertible note offering.
Bitcoin (BTC) infrastructure firm Marathon Holdings acquired 15,574 BTC for an estimated $1.53 billion after raising nearly $2 billion through a 0% convertible note sale in November and December. Marathon shared a Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8-K filing on Dec. 19, revealing it bought its latest BTC tranche at an average price of $98,529 per Bitcoin.
U.S. publicly traded companies use Form 8-K documents to disclose developments relevant to shareholders.
Marathon Holdings now holds 44,394 BTC, worth a staggering $4.45 billion when the leading cryptocurrency was trading at $100,151. The BTC miner also disclosed approximately $263 million in note buybacks. According to a Marathon post on X, the remaining note sale proceeds—about $132 million—will be used to buy more Bitcoin.
Saylor’s Bitcoin playbook
Marathon, Hut 8, Riot, and other BTC-centric startups have adopted a fundraising strategy popularized by Michael Saylor, executive chairman of MicroStrategy and a former crypto-skeptic turned Bitcoin evangelist.
The so-called “infinite money glitch” involves issuing debt in the form of dated share rights in exchange for capital to accumulate BTC. As BTC’s price rises, companies report BTC yield to highlight investment performance.
Critics like analyst Jacob King have blasted Saylor’s playbook, claiming MicroStrategy’s approach is akin to a Ponzi scheme and could collapse if Bitcoin’s price experiences a sharp downturn.
Saylor’s general response to these critiques likened BTC to New York real estate in its early days. The MicroStrategy chairman has often stated that Bitcoin, like New York property, will appreciate indefinitely, allowing companies to continue issuing debt to finance further BTC purchases. MicroStrategy plans to buy $42 billion worth of BTC before 2028, and Saylor has said he never plans to sell.
