Marathon Digital Snaps Up Two Bitcoin Mining Sites From Hut 8 For $13.5 Million

Marathon Digital will acquire two of Hut 8’s Bitcoin mining sites for $13.5 million under an agreement announced February 2 in a press release.

Marathon Digital Buys Out Site Management Rights

Top Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 said in the release that it’s relinquishing Bitcoin mining sites in Kearney, Nebraska, and Granbury, Texas. The company revealed that the agreement was sanctioned after Marathon Digital paid a $13.56 million termination fee to own the property management rights of the two sites.

Marathon Digital has agreed to pay Hut 8 a termination fee of $13.5 million to assume complete operational control of its recently acquired Bitcoin mining sites in Granbury, Texas, and Kearney, Nebraska.#Bitcoin #Crypto pic.twitter.com/Iwd04Oeig3

— Yung Satoshi (@yung_satoshi) February 2, 2024

In the meantime, Hut 8 is scheduled to continue providing management services in both sites until April 30, 2024, when the Marathon Digital team officially takes over. Marathon Digital is scheduled to pay the termination fee within 30 days after it passes the baton.

Speaking on the development, Hut 8 President Asher Genoot stated that an “orderly transition of operations” is expected in the coming months. Genoot also stated that the company’s new initiatives will be shared with the crypto public in the future.

Marathon Digital is an asset-light Bitcoin mining infrastructure that ensures the validation of new transactions on the network. Validated transactions unlock block rewards, which are new Bitcoins released into circulation.

The Bitcoin mining company has stated that it wants to transition from an asset-light organization to a more hands-on mining operation. This mission has since been reflected after Marathon Digital purchased two additional Bitcoin mining sites from Generate Capital on December 19, 2023.

According to another press release from Marathon Digital, this acquisition cost the mining giant $178.6 million, or $458,000 per megawatts, to be paid in cash from the company’s balance sheet.

Marathon Digital provided more details, stating that the two mining sites would help the company generate 390 megawatts in capacity.

Marathon’s Mining Capacity Now At 910 Megawatts

Marathon Digital’s Bitcoin mining site acquisition has already yielded dividends for the company. Previously, the mining firm had a mining portfolio of 584 megawatts of capacity, of which 3% was operated in sites owned by the company. Third parties hosted the remaining 97%.

With the acquisition of Generate Capital’s mining sites, Marathon Digital has seen its mining capacity skyrocket to 910 megawatts.

Speaking on this, CEO and Chairman Fred Thiel stated that 45% of the mining capacity is operational in the mining sites it directly owns. On the other hand, 55% is being handled by third-party service providers.

Thiel also said that the company is working on integrating its entire portfolio in the next 18 to 24 months to meet its 5 Exahashes (Eh/s) capacity.