MARA Insights: 2024 Series Recap

This recap consolidates key updates shared by Robert Samuels, VP of Investor Relations at MARA, during his 10-day MARA Insights X thread series. You can read the original article on his personal X account by visiting this link. All opinions expressed in this article are Robert's and are not necessarily shared by his employer.

As we journey into 2025, it’s worth reflecting on MARA’s remarkable milestones in 2024—a year of transformation, growth, and progress. From record-breaking hashrate expansion to deploying zero-cost energy initiatives and pioneering advanced immersion cooling systems, MARA continues to lead the industry forward and break the mold.

Hybrid BTC Acquisition Approach and the Value of BTC Reserves

As the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner, MARA leverages a hybrid strategy combining mining and strategic BTC purchases funded by 0% convertible notes to grow BTC holdings per share.

In 2024, MARA:

• Mined over 9,000 BTC at a discount to the spot price (~$67K cash cost per coin in 3Q24)
• Acquired over 22,000 BTC via direct purchases and 0% convertible notes at an average price of ~$87,000/BTC
• Achieved a YE BTC yield per diluted share of 62.7%
• Had ~7,300 BTC loaned to third parties (some of the most trusted crypto participants), generating additional returns

As of 12/31/24, MARA holds ~45,000 BTC, valued at ~$4.2B. Applying JP Morgan’s SOTP valuation metric of 2X HODL premium, this translates to an estimated value of ~$8.4B. For context, MARA's market cap as of 1/3/25 is ~$6.7B, yet JP Morgan's BTC valuation multiple implies our bitcoin holdings alone could be worth $8.4B. This figure represents only MARA's bitcoin holdings, with zero credit given to our mining operations, vertically integrated tech stack, or expanding technology business.

Exceeding 2024 EH/s Targets

At the start of 2024, MARA set an ambitious target of achieving 35-37 EH/s of energized capacity by year-end. By April 28th, we observed rapid progress at our current sites and identified opportunities to capitalize on new site acquisitions, prompting us to raise our target to 50 EH/s. On December 10, 2024, we hit 50 EH/s, and by year-end, we reached 53.2 EH/s of energized capacity.

To put this in perspective, here’s how MARA stacked up against competitors in 2024:

• MARA: 53.2 EH/s
• Miner A: 39.1 EH/s
• Miner B: 31.5 EH/s
• Miner C: 31.0 EH/s

What enabled MARA's success?

Our operations team: securing miners early and ensuring timely delivery and deployment on sites. In 2024, we achieved operational milestones that were likely a first for the industry:

• 319,622 total miners moved
• New miners imported: 177,469
• Miners transported domestically: 142,153
• 242 single-phase immersion containers (with dry coolers) transported

For context, in 2023, we imported 102,555 miners. In Q4 2024 alone, MARA imported a record 105,643 miners.

Even after surpassing 50.0 EH/s, we’re far from done. In 2025 as we are well poised to continue growing into already acquired capacity with miners already staged for delivery, with additional growth from exciting new initiatives, which we’ll discuss in the following sections.

We also plan to expand our Advanced ASIC Retirement Program to ensure old hardware continues to operate profitably beyond its typical lifecycle.

Disciplined M&A Strategy: Laying a Foundation for Growth

Our seasoned team of former energy bankers secured over 1.1 gigawatts of power in 2024, while helping to reduce our cost to mine bitcoin.

Throughout 2024, MARA acquired 7 new sites totaling approximately 1,100 megawatts in nameplate capacity:

1. Kearney, NE

2. Granbury, TX

3. Garden City, TX

4. Findlay, OH

5. Hannibal, OH

6. Hopedale, OH

7. Hansford County, TX

MARA's hashrate growth stems from a disciplined M&A strategy focused on long-term value. By pursuing accretive, below market value transactions, we reduce mining costs and build a foundation for sustainable growth.

In 2024, this meant thoroughly assessing opportunities to ensure each deal aligned with our principles:

• Acquired sites at an avg. price ~$400,000/MW
• Paid on avg. 28% less than what our three closest competitors paid for similar acquisitions, based on public info

Our team walked away from several deals in 2024, some later pursued by competitors under less favorable terms.

Through strict cost discipline, these transactions grew our owned and operated portfolio of expected capacity from 3% to 65% in 2024.

The transition from an asset-light to an owned and operated model reduced costs year over year even in light of the Bitcoin halving.

MARA's growth initiatives have created a pipeline of over 2 gigawatts of global opportunities, enabling hashrate deployment at lower cost. We continue to pursue accretive M&A deals that expand our near-zero cost energy strategy to further reduce our bitcoin production costs.

Zero-Cost Energy Strategy: Reducing Mining Costs

Bitcoin mining is a zero-sum business where an increasing number of machines compete for fixed rewards. Scaled operations with low-cost energy dominate, leaving others behind. As competition intensifies, AI data center growth is pushing out new miners in low-cost regions. While established miners benefit from scale, they too must adopt new growth strategies.

A key part of MARA’s strategy is utilizing energy inaccessible to our competitors, such as stranded energy in areas lacking AI’s stable fiber or grid connections or requiring specialized expertise and relationships for miners to unlock. One example is flared natural gas. Partnering with NGON, MARA is energizing data centers at U.S. wellheads, using gas that would otherwise be wasted and flared into the atmosphere.

Flared natural gas offers low-cost energy for Bitcoin mining, reduces methane emissions, and curbs gas flaring. These sites can also yield carbon credits, further lowering costs.

Owning the natural gas generators on site marks MARA’s first owned and operated power generation assets, a key step in MARA’s zero-cost energy strategy. Owning generation assets enables access to energy at an exceptionally low cost. Our recent Texas wind farm acquisition exemplifies this, producing 114 MW of clean energy with zero-marginal energy cost.

This allows us to operate miners profitably beyond their traditional lifecycle. Additionally, owning the assets lets us sell energy to third parties or the grid when more profitable, further offsetting our costs.

Third parties supplementing costs is another part of the company’s zero-cost energy strategy. One approach we can take to offset our costs is to sell the heat our facilities generate for use in industrial, residential, or agricultural applications. In Finland, district heating is the primary method for warming buildings in populated areas. Through our projects serving over 80,000 residents, we’ve found Bitcoin mining to be an efficient heat source. This strategy offers district heaters with a low-cost alternative to burning biomass, utilizing Finland’s clean electricity mix. Plus, we earn revenue for both providing heat and mining bitcoin. For a deeper dive into how MARA harnesses heat generation to drive sustainability and reduce costs, see our article: Heating with Hashes.

At MARA, pursuing near-zero-cost energy is essential. It alleviates pressures from rising global hash rate, ensuring profitable mining in nearly any circumstance. MARA’s growing pipeline of over 2GW of domestic and international opportunities reinforces our ability to grow at scale with a focus on near-zero cost energy.

Global Reach: Enhancing Operational Resilience

MARA is one of the most geographically diversified public Bitcoin miners, with 17 data centers spanning four continents. Our global presence is a testament to our expertise and commitment to operational resilience.

Born and rooted in the U.S., MARA prioritizes the U.S. as our primary operating base, with nationwide distribution central to our strategy. Our U.S. data centers are strategically spread across various jurisdictions, climates, energy sources, and grid operators (ISOs). Once fully operational, no single ISO will account for more than 50% of our owned and operated capacity.

Our diversified strategy also drives our international expansion. By 2028, we aim for 50% of MARA’s operations to be outside the U.S. Our international team is building partnerships with energy providers and sovereign entities. Stay tuned for project updates.

MARA’s Abu Dhabi immersion site showcases our adaptability to diverse environments. Operating in extreme desert conditions, it achieves nearly 100% uptime—setting a global standard for reliability and innovation.MARA's Bitcoin mining operations in Abu Dhabi support grid stability by utilizing excess energy during winter months, driven by seasonal shifts in energy demand.

In Finland, MARA leverages the colder climate to supply heat from Bitcoin mining to district heating systems, warming 80,000 residents. This highlights our adaptability and commitment to region-specific solutions. As MARA expands domestically and internationally, resilience remains central to our mission, shaping a future focused on geographic diversity and global impact.

Vertically Integrated Tech Stack: Gaining Full-Tech Control

MARA leads the mining space with full vertical integration—from our mining pool to our ASICs and cooling infrastructure. We’re the only public miner with a fully integrated tech stack.

MARA Pool

MARA Pool is the only self-owned and operated mining pool among public miners, offering unmatched control and efficiency. In 2024, MARA Pool’s hash rate grew 168%, far surpassing Bitcoin’s network growth of 49%. By year-end, MARA Pool contributed ~5% of Bitcoin’s total network hash rate, solidifying the U.S.’s leadership in global mining.

Operating our pool means no fees to external operators, higher earnings, and superior performance. MARA Pool’s block fees in 2024 were consistently higher than the network average, capturing significant transaction fees.

Luck factor measures how often a mining pool finds blocks compared to the probability of it winning based on its hash rate. MARA Pool’s luck factor has exceeded the network average by over 10% since launch, meaning more blocks mined, higher rewards, and greater efficiency.

Slipstream

MARA’s custom-built block service, Slipstream, directly handles large or non-standard transactions by submitting them directly to MARA Pool, further increasing MARA’s fee revenue.

Auradine

MARA is enhancing our mining capabilities by investing in advanced Bitcoin mining technology. We invested $48.7M in Auradine, advancing cutting-edge 4nm ASIC chips. MARA’s CEO, Fred Thiel, serves on Auradine’s board, ensuring strong collaboration and strategic alignment. As a U.S.-based company, Auradine reduces our reliance on foreign manufacturers, strengthens our supply chain, and supports domestic blockchain technology development. While integrating Auradine’s hardware into our operations is in the early stages, this strategic partnership positions MARA for significant advancements in mining efficiency and performance as deployment scales.

Immersion Cooling

MARA’s efforts extend to advanced cooling solutions.

• 25% of MARA’s operations use single-phase immersion cooling, reducing energy use and extending hardware life.
• Our Abu Dhabi sites operate entirely on immersion cooling, achieving ~100% uptime in harsh desert conditions.

We’re developing Two-Phase Immersion Cooling (2PIC)—a groundbreaking system that:

• Increases computing density
• Reduces data center space and energy use
• Eliminates water use
• Unlocks new operating environments

From MARA Pool and Slipstream to MARAFW and advanced cooling, MARA is setting new benchmarks for sustainability and efficiency in the Bitcoin mining and data center industries.

2PIC: Advancing the Next Generation of Immersion Cooling

2PIC is transforming resource management for Bitcoin mining and beyond, offering industrial-grade liquid immersion cooling for extreme computing environments.

What is 2PIC by MARA?

Two-phase immersion cooling uses a specialized liquid coolant that absorbs heat, transitions to vapor, and condenses back into liquid within a closed-loop system.

This highly efficient process provides cooling and enables heat capture for reuse, boosting sustainability and efficiency.

Leveraging its expertise from operating over a gigawatt of Bitcoin mining infrastructure, MARA has developed, tested, and refined some of the most efficient cooling technologies in the world.

Reduced Water Usage

Traditional data centers consume vast amounts of water. For instance, hyperscale centers use ~550,000 gallons daily—that’s 200 million gallons annually. In contrast, MARA’s 2PIC system eliminates water usage and minimizes fluid loss, providing a greener, more sustainable solution.

Higher Computational Density

2PIC enables 2-4X more power in the same footprint, reducing space requirements by up to 75%. This results in lower cooling costs, enhanced performance, and reduced physical infrastructure needs.

Real-World Implementation

In Q1 2025, MARA will implement 20MW of 2PIC technology, marking the next stage of its efficiency journey and the first large-scale deployment informed by years of operational insight.

Location Flexibility

Thanks to its compact, resilient design, 2PIC thrives in extreme environments ranging from -20°C to 50°C, allowing data centers to operate in challenging climates and unlocking possibilities in locations once considered unsuitable.

Heat Capture and Reuse

2PIC by MARA enables efficient heat capture, making it ideal for district heating and other applications. This capability allows data centers to contribute to energy reuse and sustainability efforts.

MARA produced over 40MW of 2PIC tanks in Q4 2024 to enhance the density and efficiency of its mining operations.

Applications in AI/HPC

Beyond Bitcoin mining, 2PIC is an ideal solution for High-Performance Computing (HPC) workloads, including AI applications. Its ability to manage the intense computational demands of these environments makes it a valuable technology across a wide range of industries.

Commercial Rollouts

MARA has secured its first commercial orders for 2PIC and is collaborating with partners who recognize its operational and environmental advantages. With growing demand, this new system is gaining momentum as a practical, high-power solution for advanced computing needs.

2PIC demonstrates how data centers can reduce operating costs, conserve resources, and operate more efficiently. Available directly at 2pic.io.

For a deeper dive into how 2PIC improves power density and economics—and what these advancements mean for the industry—be sure to read the recent article by Jimil Shah, Sr. Director of Immersion Cooling at MARA, published in Electronics Cooling (see here).

Broadening Bitcoin’s Role: Sidechains & Tokenization

MARA is expanding Bitcoin’s utility through Anduro, Coordinate, Alys, and Avant—a MARA incubated, Bitcoin sidechain ecosystem enabling real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and smart contracts.

What is Anduro?

Anduro is a multi-sidechain network that enhances Bitcoin’s functionality. Anduro launched with two permissionless chains:

• Coordinate: Bitcoin-native tokenization and data storage
• Alys: Smart contracts for Bitcoin

Anduro sidechains support new Bitcoin applications such as tokenization, smart contracts, and data storage. These sidechains drive transaction revenue for miners participating in the Anduro network, supporting Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work mechanism and ensuring long-term security.

What is Coordinate?

Coordinate is a Bitcoin-native sidechain focused on:

• Asset tokenization (e.g., real-world assets)
• Blob storage for apps needing scalable blockspace

Coordinate brings advanced capabilities directly to the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Coordinate features UTXO asset tokenization, allowing users to create and manage tokenized assets. The 1:1 peg allows for seamless value transfer between bitcoin and Coordinate BTC (cBTC). This sidechain excels in fast finality and fee predictability.

Coordinate uses a hybrid consensus combining:

• Strong Federation for decentralized governance
• Auxiliary Proof-of-Work (Aux PoW) provides security and allows miners to simultaneously mine Bitcoin and cBTC

What is Alys?

Alys is an EVM-compatible sidechain that brings Ethereum-style smart contracts to Bitcoin. It offers developers a way to create decentralized apps (dApps) leveraging Bitcoin’s security and Ethereum’s programmability.

Who Benefits from Using Alys?

• Web3 Developers can leverage familiar Ethereum tools to build on Bitcoin
• Businesses can deploy Bitcoin-based applications with enhanced functionality

Avant is the first example of what Alys can achieve. Avant is a wealth management platform for tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs). It is currently being piloted on Alys as a use case for Bitcoin-based tokenization.

Why Avant?

Bitcoin users are seeking yield-generation opportunities backed by tangible, auditable value. Avant connects Bitcoin with trusted real-world investments, offering a sustainable alternative to speculative crypto products.

Avant’s Roadmap:

• Whiskey Barrel Issuance: Tokenized stakes in a Kentucky distillery, offering investors a share in production profits
• $300M Pipeline: Tokenization of commodities and real estate
• Market Size: RWAs projected at $2 trillion by 2030, with Avant aiming for $700M annually

Discover more about Avant and its mission to tokenize real-world assets.

How It All Fits:

• Coordinate enables tokenization and scalable data storage
• Alys powers smart contracts for platforms like Avant
• Avant connects Bitcoin to real-world assets

Together, they expand Bitcoin’s utility beyond its core financial role, all powered by Anduro. MARA’s sidechain ecosystem showcases how Bitcoin can evolve to meet growing demands for real-world applications and decentralized finance.

Recently, the Anduro team has brought on BIP-360 author Hunter Beast as a core protocol engineer. BIP-360 introduces quantum-resistant address types to Bitcoin, to secure the network from quantum attacks.

Top-Tier Talent: Powering MARA’s Success

MARA’s success stems from the expertise, experience, and dedication of our talent. From the boardroom to operations, we’ve assembled a team with diverse backgrounds to ensure excellence in Bitcoin mining and beyond.

2024 was a year of remarkable growth for MARA. We expanded our operations, exceeded EH/s targets, and attracted exceptional talent from industries like the military, finance, and technology—building a team that is well-equipped to meet our ambitious goals.

Our team is composed of experienced professionals, including:

• Wall Street veterans with deep financial knowledge
• Seasoned engineers and technologists from energy, data centers, and AI sectors
• Military leaders skilled in navigating high-stakes environments

At MARA, nearly 10% of our workforce are veterans. Their leadership, discipline, and ability to perform under pressure are invaluable to our success. We’re proud to provide opportunities for those who’ve served to thrive in the Bitcoin mining industry.

MARA’s team is built on experience from top organizations like:

• Google
• Microsoft
• Amazon
• Intel
• Siemens
• JP Morgan
• Lazard
• Palantir
• Booz Allen
• U.S. Special Operations Command
• The White House

Why do top professionals choose MARA? We are at the forefront of Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure. Our commitment to sustainability, efficiency, and strategic growth attracts those who want to make a meaningful impact in a rapidly evolving industry.

MARA’s board includes leaders with expertise spanning energy, AI, blockchain, and global markets. Their collective insights ensure that MARA remains focused on long-term growth while adapting to a fast-changing industry.

Have you ever wondered what attracted leaders like Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens USA, and Janet George, former Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Data Center & Artificial Intelligence at Intel Corporation, to join MARA’s board? MARA’s vision — to enable the energy transformation. By harnessing the power of the Bitcoin network to develop and deploy digital energy technologies, MARA improves energy management, utilization, and sustainability.

Together, the executive team and board bring decades of leadership experience to advance MARA’s vision:

• Fortune 500 expertise
• Deep knowledge in energy, AI, and blockchain
• Operational discipline honed by industries like finance, technology, energy, and consulting

As MARA continues to grow, we remain committed to building a team with the expertise to meet the demands of an evolving industry. Collaboration, technical skill, and strategic execution are at the core of what drives us forward.

Connecting the Threads

As we wrap up the 10-day MARA Insights series, 2024 marks a pivotal year for MARA. Achieving record-breaking hashrate milestones, disciplined M&A growth, zero-cost energy strategies and advanced technologies like 2PIC, MARA continues to redefine innovation and sustainability across Bitcoin mining, energy, and digital infrastructure.

With focused execution and visionary leadership, we’ve strengthened our operations and expanded Bitcoin’s potential through initiatives like Anduro and its sidechain ecosystem. Supported by a team of experts and a commitment to constant and never-ending improvement, MARA is ready to lead the next wave in energy and digital transformation. Looking ahead, we are setting ambitious goals for 2025 to further drive progress and push the boundaries of what’s possible. We can’t wait to share these with you!