MARA Stock Pops as Marathon Buys Up Bitcoin Mining Sites

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) is one of the top-trending tickers, and MARA stock is climbing 5.8% in early trading. The shares are advancing after the company, which owns a large amount of Bitcoin (BTC-USD), announced that it would buy two mining sites.

Additionally, Bitcoin has risen sharply in recent weeks, causing Marathon’s shares to rally.

Marathon’s Purchase of Two Bitcoin Mining Sites

MARA disclosed that it would buy two Bitcoin mining sites with “390 megawatts of capacity” for $178.6 million. This is the first time that the company will fully own any mining sites.

Marathon explained that it intends to own a “portfolio of Bitcoin mining operations” in the future.

One mining site is located in Texas, and the other is in Nebraska.

Before the transaction was announced today, the firm owned 584 megawatts of Bitcoin mining capacity. but 97% of that capacity “is hosted by third parties,” Marathon explained.

“By acquiring the sites…we have an opportunity to reduce our bitcoin production costs at these sites, to capitalize on energy hedging opportunities, and to expand our operational capacity,” Marathon CEO Fred Thiel stated.

Marathon’s Bitcoin Holdings and MARA Stock

As of Nov. 30, Marathon owned 14,025 Bitcoins. Because the company owns so much Bitcoin, MARA stock tends to move in tandem with Bitcoin’s price action.

Largely in anticipation of the launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the token’s prices have jumped in recent weeks. Consequently, MARA stock has soared 98% in the last month.

On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.