Marathon Digital Buys $100 Million Worth of Bitcoin

Marathon Digital (MARA) bought more bitcoin.

The bitcoin miner said Thursday that it recently purchased $100 million of the cryptocurrency on the open market, adding that it now owns over 20,000 bitcoin — worth roughly $1.3 billion on the open market — and intends to acquire more.

It also says it now plans to keep all the bitcoin it mines, which it called a “full HODL strategy.”

Marathon CFO Salman Khan explained that a recent dip in bitcoin prices, combined with the company’s strong financial position, provided an ideal opportunity to expand its holdings. The company had lately been selling bitcoin to cover operating expenses.

As of June 30, Marathon held $268 million in cash. The company is set to report its second-quarter earnings on August 1.

Marathon stock was recently up about 1%, with bitcoin down roughly 2% over the past 24 hours to a bit under $65,000, according to CoinDesk.

“We believe bitcoin is the world’s best treasury reserve asset and support the idea of sovereign wealth funds holding it,” said Marathon CEO Fred Thiel. “We encourage governments and corporations to all hold bitcoin as a reserve asset.”