Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. continues to sell Bitcoin (BTC) to cover operational expenses, having sold 704 BTC in December, which was 38% of the BTC mined that month. Despite holding 15,174 BTC and considerable cash reserves, the company is focusing on increasing liquidity in anticipation of the next Bitcoin halving event.
In December, Marathon achieved a record production of 1,853 BTC, a 56% increase from November and a significant 290% year-over-year growth. However, high expenses forced the company to sell some of its Bitcoin holdings.
The average closing price of BTC in December 2023 was $42,546, making the sale worth less than $30 million. Marathon is preparing for another BTC sale in January 2024, with plans to purchase new equipment from Generate Capital for approximately $178.6 million.
Marathon CEO Fred Thiel outlined the company’s 2024 vision, aiming for a 30% increase in energized hash rate and reaching 50 exahashes in the next 18 to 24 months. Additionally, Marathon’s MaraPool saw a noticeable increase in transaction fee collections, accounting for 22% of BTC production in December, amounting to over 380 BTC.
Bitcoin’s price saw a 9% increase since January 1, 2024, reaching a high of $45,950 before retreating below $43,000. As of January 4, 2024, BTC trades at $43,900, reflecting a 2.40% increase in the last 24 hours, with a market cap of $863 billion and a 24-hour trading volume down by 29.67% to $31.86 billion. The recent recovery has led to a roughly 5% gain over the past month.
