MARA Holdings shares rose 17% after the bitcoin mining firm introduced Thursday a partnership with Starwood Capital Group to construct a big information middle at an present website in the USA.
The deal will convert some MARA places, lots of which had been initially developed for Bitcoin mining, into amenities serving enterprise cloud and synthetic intelligence clients.
Starwood, which manages greater than $125 billion in belongings, will lead design, development and tenant sourcing by means of its information middle division, Starwood Digital Ventures. The companions plan to ship roughly 1 gigawatt of computing capability within the close to future, with plans to develop past 2.5 gigawatts over time. The 2 firms will collectively fund and handle the undertaking.
This settlement marks a significant turning level for MARA.
The corporate constructed its popularity as a Bitcoin miner, however it additionally manages websites with direct entry to large-scale energy sources. That entry has change into invaluable as expertise firms battle to safe energy for brand new AI information facilities.
MARA’s transfer matches in with the development of many Bitcoin miners repurposing their infrastructure to fulfill the rising demand for synthetic intelligence computing. The shift started after Bitcoin’s current halving minimize miners’ rewards in half. Rising energy prices, shrinking Bitcoin costs and elevated mining competitors have squeezed miners’ revenue margins, forcing most firms to diversify or pivot completely to internet hosting machines for AI firms.
Only recently, one other Bitcoin miner, BitFarms (BITF), introduced it could rebrand to Keel Infrastructure as a part of its pivot from Bitcoin mining to information middle improvement for top efficiency computing (HPC) and AI workloads.
Nevertheless, MARA has not deserted its id as a Bitcoin mining firm. In actual fact, CEO Fred Thiel mentioned in a letter to shareholders that “Bitcoin stays core to MARA’s technique.”
“Whereas it’s troublesome to foretell the timing of a restoration in Bitcoin costs, our long-term perception on this asset class stays,” Thiel added.
MARA additionally reported fourth-quarter earnings, with income down 6% to $202.3 million from $214.4 million in This fall 2024, citing a 14% decline within the common value of Bitcoin mined in the course of the quarter.
