MARA Holdings (MARA), a Bitcoin mining enterprise, has announced a new $2 billion stock offering aimed at acquiring additional bitcoin. This move continues the company’s strategy of purchasing BTC on the open market through capital raises while adhering to its “Hodl” philosophy.
As detailed in a Form 8-K and a new prospectus submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company has initiated an at-the-market (ATM) equity program with a consortium of investment banks, including Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, and BTIG among others. The funds generated from this offering will primarily be allocated for bitcoin purchases in the open market.
“We plan to utilize the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate functions, inclusive of bitcoin acquisitions and working capital,” said MARA in its prospectus.
This latest stock sales initiative comes on the heels of a prior ATM offering that aimed for up to $1.5 billion for the company.
MARA has adopted the funding strategy championed by Michael Saylor, leveraging equity and convertible bond offerings to buy bitcoin in the open market. Currently, the miner has accumulated 46,376 BTC in its reserves, positioning it as the second-largest holder of bitcoin among publicly traded firms, trailing only Strategy’s 506,137 BTC.
The decision to buy bitcoin in the open market was made by the miner last year, despite the option to mine bitcoin at a price lower than the spot rate. The mining landscape has become increasingly difficult following last year’s halving, which halved mining rewards and squeezed profit margins against a backdrop of escalating costs. This scenario has made purchasing bitcoin alongside mining operations a more favorable approach for miners.
Read more: Bitcoin Mining Is So Challenging that a Miner Chose to Embrace Michael Saylor’s Effective BTC Strategy