MARA Holdings shares rose 17% after the bitcoin mining company announced Thursday a partnership with Starwood Capital Group to build a large data center at an existing site in the United States.
The deal will convert some MARA locations, many of which were originally developed for Bitcoin mining, into facilities serving enterprise cloud and artificial intelligence customers.
Starwood, which manages more than $125 billion in assets, will lead design, construction and tenant sourcing through its data center division, Starwood Digital Ventures. The partners plan to deliver approximately 1 gigawatt of computing capacity in the near future, with plans to expand beyond 2.5 gigawatts over time. The two companies will jointly fund and manage the project.
This agreement marks a major turning point for MARA.
The company built its reputation as a Bitcoin miner, but it also manages sites with direct access to large-scale power sources. That access has become valuable as technology companies struggle to secure power for new AI data centers.
MARA’s move fits in with the trend of many Bitcoin miners repurposing their infrastructure to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence computing. The shift began after Bitcoin’s recent halving cut miners’ rewards in half. Rising power costs, shrinking Bitcoin prices and increased mining competition have squeezed miners’ profit margins, forcing most companies to diversify or pivot entirely to hosting machines for AI companies.
Just recently, another Bitcoin miner, BitFarms (BITF), announced it would rebrand to Keel Infrastructure as part of its pivot from Bitcoin mining to data center development for high performance computing (HPC) and AI workloads.
However, MARA has not abandoned its identity as a Bitcoin mining company. In fact, CEO Fred Thiel said in a letter to shareholders that “Bitcoin remains core to MARA’s strategy.”
“While it is difficult to predict the timing of a recovery in Bitcoin prices, our long-term belief in this asset class remains,” Thiel added.
MARA also reported fourth-quarter earnings, with revenue down 6% to $202.3 million from $214.4 million in Q4 2024, citing a 14% decline in the average price of Bitcoin mined during the quarter.
