MARA Holdings Reports Decline in Bitcoin Production

MARA Holdings’ blocks won and Bitcoin production—two major metrics of mining productivity—fell 6% month-over-month in February, as stated in a press release.

MARA attributed these declines to increased network difficulty and three fewer operational days in February compared to the previous month.

MARA’s shares closed at $13.94, an increase of 1.3% despite spending much of the day in negative territory. Over the past month, the stock has decreased nearly 21%, alongside a 10% decline in Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency market, according to Yahoo Finance.

Last week, the Florida-based firm reported in its fourth-quarter earnings that it produced approximately 27%, or 998, fewer blocks during the last financial quarter compared to the same period a year earlier. This occurred even as it exceeded analysts’ expectations for revenue and earnings per share, with Bitcoin prices still rising at that time.

More Competition, Fewer Rewards

However, a brewing trade war and other macroeconomic uncertainties have affected the crypto markets, sending ripples through the mining sector.

In April, a scheduled update to the Bitcoin network’s code halved the number of tokens awarded to miners for each block, making mining less profitable. Furthermore, MARA faced rising energy costs, with energy and hosting expenses surging by 70%—totaling $127.4 million in Q4 2024 versus $75.1 million in Q4 2023.

MARA indicated that it was nearing completion of a 40-megawatt data center in Ohio, where it will install over 10,000 S21 Pro immersion miners, aiming to expand its “footprint in energy generation.”

Cryptocurrency miner Bit Digital saw its Bitcoin production decline to about 165 tokens in the last quarter of 2024—a 59% drop from the same quarter last year. In contrast, Bitdeer Technologies Group reported $69 million in fourth-quarter revenue, down from $115 million a year prior.

Both Bit Digital and Bitdeer shares rose by 4.3% and 0.5%, respectively, on Tuesday, though their stocks have fallen 26% and 32% over the past month.

Bitcoin was recently trading above $87,300, up more than 1% over the past 24 hours according to CoinGecko.

Edited by James Rubin