MARA Holdings sold 13,597 BTC after the third quarter for approximately $1.1 billion, using $750 million of the proceeds to eliminate its outstanding Bitcoin-collateralized term loans. According to the company’s official Q3 shareholder letter, the sale was executed at an average price of about $81,039 per Bitcoin and released 17,477 BTC that had been pledged against the loans. MARA said less than 5% of its remaining Bitcoin holdings were subsequently loaned or pledged.
The transaction marks another step away from a strict hold-only treasury model. MARA said it now treats Bitcoin both as a strategic asset and as a source of liquidity, with additional monetization possible depending on market conditions and capital-allocation priorities. The company specifically identified AI infrastructure, convertible-note obligations becoming puttable next year and potential share repurchases as possible uses for Bitcoin-generated cash.
Bitcoin Treasury Becomes a Financing Tool
The repaid facilities were established in August with Coinbase Credit and Two Prime Lending for an aggregate $750 million, including $600 million of new borrowing and the refinancing of an existing $150 million facility. They were initially backed by 18,750 BTC and were intended to help fund MARA’s Long Ridge acquisition. By September 30, 17,477 BTC remained pledged specifically against those loans before the post-quarter repayment released the collateral.
MARA had already been selling substantially more Bitcoin before this transaction. During the first nine months of 2026, it sold approximately 26,984 BTC for $1.9 billion, after expanding its treasury policy this year to permit sales of Bitcoin already held on the balance sheet. That evolution was already visible in MARA’s second-quarter treasury activity. Bitcoin is increasingly functioning as both a reserve asset and a flexible source of corporate funding rather than an asset MARA intends to retain indefinitely.
The broader balance-sheet effect is substantial. MARA said it has reduced total debt by $1.4 billion, or 37%, since the start of 2026. At September 30, it held 34,012 BTC, including assets that were loaned or pledged, while cash and cash equivalents stood at $946.5 million. The post-quarter repayment materially reduced the portion of the treasury exposed to collateral calls linked to Bitcoin-backed borrowing. Before repayment, those facilities required MARA to maintain specified collateral ratios or post additional Bitcoin if values declined.
AI Infrastructure Reshapes Capital Allocation
The Bitcoin sales are occurring as MARA expands beyond mining into power and high-performance computing infrastructure. Management says Bitcoin mining remains a core business, but the company is increasingly evaluating its power portfolio for AI and HPC applications. That strategy puts MARA within a wider mining-sector shift toward monetizing energy and data-center assets through alternative compute workloads. Core Scientific, for example, has moved much further toward AI-focused colocation infrastructure, while other miners have been converting Bitcoin facilities for AI workloads.
MARA’s Q3 numbers also illustrate why treasury gains and mining performance need to be separated. Revenue fell 35% year over year to $164.2 million, while the company produced 2,247 BTC and sold 3,891 BTC during the quarter. Net income nevertheless reached $632.1 million because results included an $885.3 million gain from the fair-value remeasurement of digital assets. The reported profit therefore benefited heavily from Bitcoin accounting gains even as quarterly revenue declined sharply.
Capital allocation now includes another option after the board authorized a share repurchase program of up to $500 million following quarter-end. The authorization permits open-market and privately negotiated purchases, but timing and amounts depend on factors including market conditions, MARA’s share price and available capital. The program creates repurchase capacity rather than a committed $500 million expenditure, and management explicitly retains the ability to modify or terminate it.
MARA’s treasury strategy is consequently becoming more active at the same time its infrastructure strategy broadens beyond Bitcoin mining. Future Bitcoin sales will depend on whether management sees greater value in retaining BTC or redeploying that liquidity toward debt obligations, AI infrastructure, acquisitions and equity repurchases. The latest $1.1 billion sale demonstrates that the company is prepared to monetize a significant portion of its treasury when that capital-allocation calculation favors other uses.
