Bitcoin Holder Competition Intensifies as Mining Giant Marathon Seeks $250M for More BTC Acquisition
Marathon, a Bitcoin mining company, has announced a significant initiative to enhance its Bitcoin holdings by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the cryptocurrency. The company revealed its strategy in a recent press release, stating its plan to offer $250 million in convertible senior notes maturing in September 2031 to qualified institutional buyers.
The notes, which will be unsecured senior obligations of Marathon, will accrue interest semi-annually on March 1 and September 1 of each year, commencing on March 1, 2025. They will be convertible into cash, shares of Marathon’s common stock, or a combination of both at the company’s discretion. The funds raised from this offering will be utilized to acquire additional Bitcoin and for general corporate purposes.
Marathon currently stands as the second-largest publicly traded company holding Bitcoin, with a stash of 20,000 BTC valued at over $1.2 billion. The only entity surpassing Marathon in Bitcoin ownership is MicroStrategy, led by Michael Saylor, which possesses 226,500 BTC valued at more than $13.734 billion.
Marathon’s CEO, Fred Thiel, expressed intentions to follow in Saylor’s footsteps by accumulating more Bitcoin. Thiel’s statement on the social media platform X indicated the company’s readiness to expand its Bitcoin reserves. In a similar move, MicroStrategy recently announced plans to issue $500 million in convertible senior notes to further bolster its Bitcoin holdings and support corporate operations.
Bitcoin expert Samson Mow highlighted the potential trend sparked by MicroStrategy’s exponential stock value growth of nearly 1,000% since integrating Bitcoin into its operations four years ago. Mow cautioned about the sudden impact that widespread adoption of Bitcoin by public companies could have on the market, advising strategic planning in response to this potential shift.
As of the latest update, Bitcoin is trading at $60,696, reflecting a more than 2% increase for the day. The ongoing developments in the cryptocurrency market, especially concerning institutional investments in Bitcoin, continue to shape the landscape of digital asset ownership and utilization.
