Marathons first Bitcoin sale in 2 years not the result of distress

A company spokesman says the second-biggest publicly listed holder of BTC wants to have a war chest of liquidity composed of both cash and Bitcoin. 3060 Total views 13 Total shares Listen to article 0:00 News Own this piece of history

Collect this article as an NFT The second largest publicly-listed holder of Bitcoin, crypto mining firmMarathon Digital Holdings has offloaded some of its Bitcoin (BTC) for the first time in two years.

A spokesman told Cointelegraph this was not a result of financial distress.

According to anupdate posted on Feb. 2, the company disclosed that during January it sold 1,500 BTC, worth $35.3 million at current prices.

While some crypto miners have been forced to sell Bitcoin due to distress, Marathon vice president of corporate communications Charlie Schumacher said this was not the case for Marathon. Marathon Digital’s Bitcoin Mining Data Center in Hardin, Montana. Source: Marathon Digital

Schumacher said that Marathon had been diamond-handing its Bitcoin until now, as the firm didnt want to sell while production was down, and has been bullish on the long-term prospects of the leading cryptocurrency.

But coming into the new year, Marathon wants to have a war-chest of liquidity composed of both cash and Bitcoin and is looking to continue paying down debt and increase its cash positions.

Schumacher also noted that Bitcoins recent uptick in price contributed to the decision to sell some of its holdings.

January saw Bitcoin rise above the $24,000 price level for the first time since August.

Even after the sale, Marathon managed to increase its unrestricted Bitcoin holdings in the month to 8,090 BTC ($189.8 million).Operational highlights from Marathons latest update. Source: Marathon Digital Holdings

Marathon said it also had significantly ramped up Bitcoin production throughout January, producing 687 BTC, which represents an increase of 45% compared to the month prior. In the update, Marathon chairman and CEO Fred Thiel noted:The improvement in our bitcoin production was primarily a result of our teams ability to work in tandem with the new hosting provider in McCamey, Texas, to address the maintenance and technical issues at the King Mountain data center that had suppressed our bitcoin production in the fourth quarter of 2022.”

Last year, Marathon noted in a May 4 update that the last time it had sold any Bitcoin was on Oct. 21, 2020, and has been hodling since then.

When asked how it had managed to avoid selling the main product of its business operations, Schumacher pointed to the firms low headcount, consisting of 32 people as of today, and suggested it was a result of sound long-term financial strategies.

Related: Bitcoin price is up, but BTC mining stocks could remain vulnerable throughout 2023

Marathon is the second-biggestpublicly listed holder of Bitcoin according to CoinGecko, beaten only by software analytics company MicroStrategy. It has recorded a significant boost in its share pricein recent days, with MARA stock rising135% so far this year to $8, according to MarketWatch. #Bitcoin #Mining #Business #Peter Thiel #Bitcoin Mining #Press Release #MicroStrategy Related News How to convert your digital art into NFTs and sell it Bitcoin miner Hut 8 takes stoush with Ontario power supplier to court Argo Blockchain accused of misleading investors in class-action lawsuit Bitcoin mining revenue jumps up 50% to $23M in one month BlockFi gets court nod to sell crypto mining assets