As the smoke gradually cleared from the launch of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US, their industrywide implications are now being felt, especially by Bitcoin miners. The arrival of these proxy Bitcoin instruments drove investors away from BTC mining firms like Marathon Digital (MARA). It was made worse by the “sell the news” event that took effect in the wake of the spot ETFs’ official approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Marathon Digital remains unfazed by these, however, as it went on with its initial plan of acquiring two additional Bitcoin mining sites.
Marathon Digital’s Official Announcement
According to the company’s official release a couple of hours ago, it just finalized the takeover of the two Bitcoin mining plants it announced earlier. The operational facilities bought from Generate Capital to the tune of $178.6 million are located in Granbury, Texas, and Kearney, Nebraska.
“With the closing of this acquisition, we have officially made the transition to a more sophisticated organization with a diversified portfolio of Bitcoin mining assets,” said Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel.
The acquisition adds 390 megawatts (MW) to the capacity of Marathon Digital to pump up its total Bitcoin mining capability to 910 MW within the next two years. The procurement also raises the company’s stake, which now gives it 45% control over its direction. Furthermore, it will allow the business to scale up its generation to 50 exahashes per second (EH/s) while reducing its operational costs by 30%.
“This transaction demonstrates Generate’s strong operational capabilities, and we are excited for Marathon to take over stewardship of the Kearney and Granbury data centers, which are some of the most efficient data centers and largest controllable load resource assets in the North America,” stated Generate Capital Principal David Hirsh. “Marathon is well placed to fully realize the potential of these assets for their stakeholders.”
Marathon Digital Stock
As of yesterday’s close, Marathon Digital’s stock was down by 6.32% to $17.78. Its pre-market price remains close to that level as it was only nudged by 0.56% as of 6:40 AM EST (11:40 AM UTC).
Marathon Digital’s current value has significantly dipped after showing strong gains during the last Santa Claus rally. It surged $31.07 post-Christmas last month and traded sideways during the massive sell-off that followed. But then again, the downward momentum continued following the historic approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US by the SEC. Zooming out the chart, however, displays over a 112% increase in its price.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin is still trading at $42,660 as of press time, showing subtle movements within the 24-hour frame between a low of $42,086 and a high of $43,566.