Marathon to pay Hut 8 $13.5 million to take operational control of two bitcoin mining sites

Marathon Digital has agreed to pay Hut 8 a termination fee of $13.5 million to take full operational control of its recently acquired bitcoin mining sites in Granbury, Texas and Kearney, Nebraska.

Marathon intends to replace the mining firm as the operator of the sites by April 30, with Hut 8 continuing to provide managed services and conduct self-mining activities in the meantime.

“We are very proud of the work we’ve done since taking over management at the Kearney and Granbury sites and want to recognize the incredible talent and dedication our teams on the ground have demonstrated for more than a year,” Hut 8 President Asher Genoot said in a statement today. “We anticipate an orderly transition of operations in the coming months and look forward to providing updates about our future plans as we are able to.”

Marathon closed a deal to secure ownership of the sites from Generate Capital for $178.6 million on Jan. 16. However, Hut 8 continued to manage operations at the sites under its agreement with the former owner.

Hut 8 forgoes $1.2 million-per-month contract

Hut 8 inherited the service agreement following a merger with USBTC last year. Hut 8’s contract still had a term of more than four years to go, valued at $1.2 million per month, TheMinerMag previously reported.

Subsidiaries of Marathon and Hut 8 agreed to terminate the contract on Jan. 30 and transition operational responsibilities to Marathon. In doing so, Marathon expects to reduce its operating fees, improving its production cost to mine bitcoin at the sites, the firm said yesterday.

“By operating the sites in Granbury and Kearney ourselves, we will be able to fully recognize the operational and economic benefits of owning these assets,” Marathon Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel said. “We look forward to gaining more influence over our new sites in Texas and Nebraska and leveraging our operational expertise to realize the full benefits of our recent acquisition.”

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