MARA rolls out advanced ASIC recycling with wind power

by

As an analyst with over two decades of experience in the energy and tech sectors, I find Mara’s move to acquire a wind farm in Texas intriguing. It’s not just about Bitcoin mining; it’s about efficient use of resources and environmental stewardship. The fact that MARA will be leveraging renewable resources that would have otherwise been curtailed is a win-win situation.

Marathon Digital, a Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency mining company (previously known as MARA), has purchased a wind farm in Hansford County, Texas. This marks the initial deployment of their Advanced ASIC Retirement Program, which will be implemented at this site.

Efficient use of energy and equipment

On December 3rd, MARA finalized a deal for purchasing the facility. The facility currently operates at 114 MW of wind energy production and holds 240 MW of capacity yet to be linked to the power grid.

In the U.S., there’s significantly more available connection capacity than what’s currently installed. This excess capacity is primarily sourced from renewable energy. Therefore, it’s likely that the farm’s production would have been reduced if not for MARA’s acquisition.

The data center won’t be linked to the power grid; instead, it’ll rely on the energy generated from the facility itself.

MARA will utilize outdated, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) in its new program, the “Advanced ASIC Retirement Initiative,” at their facility instead of discarding them or selling them secondhand. In a statement, MARA’s chairman and CEO Fred Thiel explained:

“By repurposing machines and energizing them with 100% renewable, zero-marginal energy cost, we’re leveraging renewable resources that would have otherwise been curtailed, reducing our bitcoin production costs through vertical integration, and demonstrating MARA’s commitment to environmental stewardship.”

MARA has about 200,000 ASICs in its fleet.

MARA has a plump treasury

In Q3 of 2024, MARA, the leading publicly traded Bitcoin miner, experienced an operational cost rise of approximately $40 million, resulting in a net loss of $124.8 million. Remarkably, despite this setback, the company’s revenue surged by 34.5% compared to the same period the previous year, reaching $131.6 million.

The firm disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission that they purchased 6,484 Bitcoins (BTC) worth $618.3 million between October 1st and November 30th. This addition increased their Bitcoin holdings to approximately 34,797 BTC, valued at around $3.3 billion. Notably, they mined 717 Bitcoins in October, marking their highest production since the halving in April.

 

Read More

2024-12-03 23:58