Wall Street Bitcoin Giant MARA Flexes Mining Muscle with 14% Hashrate Surge

MARA
Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), the publicly listed Bitcoin miner from Wall Street, reported mining 717 BTC in October, marking its strongest monthly production since April’s halving event. The crypto mining giant continues expanding its operations toward year-end
targets.

MARA Posts Strong Bitcoin
Mining Performance in October, Hashrate Jumps 14%

The
company’s energized hashrate reached 40.2 exahashes per second (EH/s) last
month, representing
a 14% increase from September levels. Despite winning slightly fewer blocks
due to rising network difficulty, overall bitcoin production grew 2%
month-over-month.

“Despite
a slight month-over-month decrease in block wins, driven by the growth in
global hash rate and the resulting rise in difficulty level, BTC production
increased by 2% to 717 BTC,” said Fred Thiel, MARA’s Chairman and CEO.

Transaction
fees provided a notable boost to October’s results, accounting for
approximately 5% of total Bitcoin produced. Two significant transactions
generated fees of 3.217 BTC and 2.665 BTC respectively, highlighting the
potential upside from MARA’s proprietary mining technology platforms.

“We believe
that our proprietary technology platforms such as Slipstream and MARAPool, our
proprietary mining pool, allow us to capture all potential benefits and take
advantage of higher transaction fees as they arise,” added Thiel.

As of
October 31, MARA held 27,562 Bitcoin in its treasury, including 4,499
restricted BTC. The company maintained an average daily production rate of 23.1
BTC throughout October.

The company
informed two weeks ago, that
it acquired a $200 million line of credit. The company’s credit facility is
backed by a segment of its cryptocurrency holdings, underscoring the increasing
adoption of cryptocurrency-backed financing within the corporate sector.

MARA’s October 2024 #Bitcoin Production Update is here:- Energized Hash Rate Increased 14% to 40.2 EH/s- 717 Bitcoin Produced in October, 2% Increase M/M- Transaction Fees Accounted for 5% of Total Bitcoin ProducedRead the full report: https://t.co/9kfGlNJqFX pic.twitter.com/5w7xxpl7Be

— MARA (@MARAHoldings) November 4, 2024

Bitcoin Production Costs
Hit $49,500

Although the
production numbers are rising, MARA and other publicly listed Bitcoin miners
from Wall Street are contending with rising production expenses, with the
average cost to mine one Bitcoin reaching $49,500 in the second quarter. When
including depreciation and stock-based compensation, this figure escalates to
$96,100 per Bitcoin, significantly impacting profit margins.

CoinShares’
recent report notes
that the industry is facing substantial challenges this year, with declining
revenues and hash prices. Increased market activity has elevated mining
difficulty to record levels, further exacerbating production costs.

In response
to these pressures, many mining operations are adjusting their business
strategies. Some are diversifying into artificial intelligence and
high-performance computing services to offset the financial strain caused by
escalating production costs.

A
comparative study between Bitcoin mining and direct investment highlights key
financial dynamics (infographic above). A typical 1 MW mining project, using
advanced equipment like the Canaan Avalon A1566, demands around $740,000
upfront. Assuming Bitcoin prices reach $130,000 by late 2026 and electricity
costs remain at $0.045 per kilowatt-hour, operators could recover their initial
investment in approximately 27 months.

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.