MARA sold $1.1 billion in Bitcoin after Q3 as revenue fell 35%
MARA Holdings sold 13, 597 BTC after the third quarter of 2026, at an average price of $81, 039. It used $750 million of the proceeds to repay Bitcoin-backed loans. Quarterly revenue fell 35% year over year, while unrealized gains on its Bitcoin holdings drove reported net income sharply higher.
- Bitcoin sold after Q3: 13, 597 BTC for approximately $1.1 billion.
- Debt repaid: $750 million in loans secured by Bitcoin.
- Q3 revenue: $164.2 million, down from $252.4 million a year earlier.
- Beyond mining: MARA is developing energy and computing businesses, though much of the projected scale is still in progress.
A post-quarter sale to repay Bitcoin-backed debt
In its Q3 2026 shareholder letter, MARA said it sold Bitcoin after the quarter ended and used the proceeds to repay $750 million in Bitcoin-backed loans. The repayment released the Bitcoin pledged as collateral, leaving less than 5% of its holdings loaned or pledged, the company said.
At the reported average price of $81, 039, the 13, 597 BTC sale brought in roughly $1.1 billion before costs. That is about $350 million more than the loan principal repaid, before fees, interest or other uses. MARA has not provided a full accounting of how it used the remaining proceeds.
MARA said it borrowed against Bitcoin during Q3 to support its planned acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power in Ohio. Borrowing against Bitcoin can provide cash without an immediate sale, but a falling Bitcoin price puts the collateral at risk. Selling coins to repay a loan reduces that exposure, though it also means giving up any future gains on the Bitcoin sold.
The collateral figures do not fully line up. MARA’s September 30 holdings breakdown lists 17, 852 BTC as pledged, while the reported post-quarter repayment released 17, 477 BTC. The company’s letter confirms that collateral was released but does not explain the difference. The two figures should not be treated as directly comparable without clarification.
MARA also changed its treasury policy in 2026 to allow sales of Bitcoin already on its balance sheet. Its previous policy, introduced in 2025, allowed sales of Bitcoin produced through mining. The new policy gives the company more flexibility to fund operations, investments, liquidity needs and capital projects. It also makes clear that MARA’s Bitcoin holdings are not untouchable.
Revenue fell as Bitcoin gains lifted reported earnings
MARA reported Q3 revenue of $164.2 million, down from $252.4 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The company attributed $83.1 million of the decline to lower Bitcoin mining revenue. A 37% drop in the average price of Bitcoin mined reduced revenue by $94.8 million, partly offset by $11.7 million from higher production. Those factors account for most, but not all, of the $88.2 million year-over-year decline.
Bitcoin production rose 5% year over year, to 2, 247 BTC from 2, 144 BTC. MARA won 644 blocks, compared with 633 a year earlier. Production fell 7% from the previous quarter’s 2, 422 BTC. MARA’s earlier December 2024 mining production offers a point of comparison for how its output has changed over time.
MARA’s energized hashrate reached 71.2 exahashes per second, up 18% year over year. Hashrate measures the computing work a miner can perform. “Energized” means the mining equipment is powered and operating.
Despite lower revenue, MARA reported net income of $632.1 million, up from $123.1 million a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share rose to $1.28 from $0.27.
One major contributor was approximately $885.3 million in unrealized Bitcoin fair-value gains, compared with $343.1 million in Q3 a year earlier. These accounting gains reflect changes in the reported value of MARA’s Bitcoin holdings. They are not cash from a sale, and that value can fall as well as rise.
Reported profit was far higher than revenue, largely because of the changing value of Bitcoin on MARA’s balance sheet, not just its mining business. The accounting gain still matters, but investors should watch operating performance and cash generation alongside headline earnings.
Bitcoin holdings, lending and the buyback
MARA reported holding 34, 012 BTC on September 30, down from 53, 822 BTC at the end of 2025. The September 30 figure included 14, 752 BTC classified as unrestricted, 1, 408 BTC loaned and 17, 852 BTC pledged as collateral. These are quarter-end categories, and the company has not fully reconciled them with the subsequent sale and collateral release. A prior 400 BTC treasury purchase offers another snapshot of its changing Bitcoin position.
The company also reported earning approximately $2.5 million in interest income from Bitcoin lending during Q3. Lending can generate income from holdings, but it carries counterparty risk: the borrower must return the Bitcoin or meet its other obligations. For newcomers comparing MARA with other Bitcoin-linked stocks, a MARA-versus-MSTR comparison can help explain the differences. Neither ticker is a substitute for understanding the underlying business and its risks.
After the quarter, MARA’s board authorized a share-repurchase program of up to $500 million. That is a ceiling, not a commitment to spend the full amount. MARA may buy shares through open-market transactions or other permitted methods, but it has not announced a set purchase amount or schedule.
MARA says it may sell Bitcoin to build cash for AI-infrastructure opportunities, meet potential obligations on convertible notes and fund possible share repurchases. Those uses compete for capital. Investors should judge the decisions by their financial results, not the size of the buyback authorization.
Power and computing ambitions alongside Bitcoin mining
MARA is pursuing energy and computing infrastructure that it says can serve Bitcoin mining, data centers and high-performance computing. Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel rejected the idea that the expansion means the company is leaving Bitcoin behind:
“This is not a pivot away from bitcoin, ”
Mining remains part of MARA’s plans, while its power and data-center infrastructure could also support other computing workloads. Whether those businesses can become a meaningful and reliable source of revenue remains an open question.
MARA’s press release reported 1.9 gigawatts of energized capacity and a development path toward approximately 4.8 gigawatts. That 4.8 gigawatts is a future target, not capacity already in operation. The company’s shareholder letter gives a separate figure of approximately 1 gigawatt of owned-and-operated assets. The disclosures do not explain how that measure differs from energized capacity.
Long Ridge is a major part of the expansion. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the planned Ohio acquisition after the quarter, but approval does not mean the deal has closed. MARA said it expected to close in the coming weeks, subject to customary conditions.
MARA describes Long Ridge as a 505-megawatt natural-gas facility on more than 1, 600 contiguous acres, with access to power, water, fiber and rail. The company says it does not expect the acquisition to reduce the site’s current power supply to the PJM grid or harm consumers. Future data-center development and additional generation remain plans, not completed capacity.
MARA has also signed a computing-services deal. Through Exaion, it secured a four-year, $79 million GPU-as-a-service contract with its first U.S. customer, on 100% take-or-pay terms. The disclosed information does not identify the customer. Take-or-pay generally means the customer must pay for contracted services or capacity even if it does not use the full amount, subject to the contract’s terms.
The company also cited a pipeline of more than $3 billion in potential contract value, with approximately $1 billion targeted for delivery by the end of 2027. MARA said those pipeline amounts are not contracted or committed. They are possible future business, not booked revenue, and should be judged very differently from the signed Exaion deal.
Key questions and answers
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Why did MARA sell Bitcoin?
It used proceeds from post-quarter sales to repay $750 million in Bitcoin-backed loans. MARA also says Bitcoin sales can support operations, investments, liquidity needs and capital projects.
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Why did net income rise while revenue fell?
MARA reported approximately $885.3 million in unrealized Bitcoin fair-value gains. These accounting gains reflect changes in the value of its holdings, not cash from selling Bitcoin.
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Is MARA moving away from Bitcoin mining?
Management says no, and mining remains part of the company’s plans. MARA is also pursuing energy, data-center and computing businesses, but their future scale and profitability are not yet established.
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Will MARA spend the full $500 million buyback authorization?
Not necessarily. The board authorized repurchases of up to that amount, but MARA has not committed to a specific purchase amount or schedule.
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Is the Long Ridge acquisition complete?
No completion has been confirmed. FERC approved the transaction, and MARA said it expected to close in the coming weeks, subject to customary conditions.
MARA’s post-quarter sale reduced debt and freed collateral. Its Q3 accounting gains also made reported earnings look far stronger than revenue alone. The tougher test is whether mining, energy assets and signed computing contracts can produce durable operating cash flow without Bitcoin’s price doing most of the work.
