Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings Inc is planning to offer up to $2 billion in stock to acquire additional Bitcoin, mirroring a strategy similar to that implemented by prominent Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor.
On March 28, MARA Holdings, previously known as Marathon Digital, announced in a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had entered into an at-the-market agreement with major investment firms, such as Cantor Fitzgerald and Barclays, allowing them to sell up to $2 billion of its stock “from time to time.”
The company stated, “We currently plan to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, which may include the purchase of Bitcoin and working capital.”
MARA’s approach imitates the strategy popularized by Saylor, the executive chairman of the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, previously MicroStrategy, which has employed various market offerings, including stock sales, to accumulate 506,137 BTC valued at approximately $42.4 billion.
MARA Holdings ranks just behind Saylor’s firm, holding 46,374 BTC that is worth around $3.9 billion, based on data from Bitbo.
In July, MARA’s CEO, Fred Thiel, announced that the company was going “full HODL” and would refrain from selling any Bitcoin mined to cover operational costs—a typical practice for many crypto miners—and would instead buy more to maintain its reserves.
The company’s planned stock sale follows a similar initiative from early last year when it offered shares valued at up to $1.5 billion. Additionally, in November, it issued $1 billion in zero-coupon convertible senior notes with intentions to use most proceeds to purchase Bitcoin.
As of March 28, MARA’s stock closed down 8.58% at $12.47, with the decline following recent turbulence in the crypto mining sector after Microsoft reportedly abandoned plans for new data centers in the US and Europe. The next day, shares fell an additional 4.6% to $11.89 in after-hours trading.
Currently, Bitcoin is trading just above $82,000, having dipped 1.2% over the last 24 hours after recent highs nearing $83,500.