MARA sells $1.5B in Bitcoin, cuts debt, pivots to AI

MARA Holdings sold 20,880 Bitcoin for $1.5 billion in the first quarter of 2026. The company used about $1 billion of the proceeds to retire roughly 30% of its convertible debt, reducing outstanding convertible obligations from about $3.3 billion to $2.3 billion and recording a $71 million gain on extinguishment. MARA reported a net loss of $1.26 billion for Q1, compared with a $533 million loss in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue fell 18% year over year to $175 million.

Between March 4 and March 25 the company sold 15,133 BTC for roughly $1.1 billion specifically to fund repurchases of convertible notes. Total Bitcoin sales in the quarter amounted to 20,880 BTC for about $1.5 billion.

Proceeds from the sales are funding MARA’s largest acquisition to date: a definitive agreement to buy Long Ridge Energy from FTAI Infrastructure for nearly $1.5 billion, including the assumption of at least $785 million of debt. Long Ridge operates a 505-megawatt combined-cycle gas power plant in Ohio on more than 1,600 contiguous acres and is expected to generate about $144 million in annualized EBITDA.

The company plans to reduce headcount by about 15% to achieve roughly $12 million in annualized cost savings and will stop pursuing large-scale purchases of ASIC mining rigs. In its Q1 shareholder letter the company wrote, “Going forward, we do not expect to pursue large-scale ASIC purchases. Our approach will remain selective, targeted, and grounded in clear economic return.”

MARA intends to repurpose most of its non-hosted mining footprint for artificial intelligence and IT workloads, saying roughly 90% of that capacity can be converted. The shareholder letter described a co-location strategy that places new infrastructure alongside existing mining sites so power can be used for Bitcoin mining now and redirected to AI and critical IT workloads later. “Our strategy centers on co-locating new infrastructure with existing Bitcoin mining operations, allowing us to monetize power assets immediately while leveraging the operational discipline and infrastructure expertise that mining provides,” the letter stated.

After the quarter, MARA reported holding 35,303 BTC on its balance sheet, valued at about $2.84 billion. Shares fell more than 5% on the trading day of the earnings release, sliding to as low as $11.74 before trading around $12.65; the stock has risen about 32% over the past month.

MARA’s filings and shareholder letter note the company is reallocating capital and assets amid a broader shift by some crypto infrastructure firms into AI and high-performance computing. Another miner secured a multibillion-dollar Nvidia deal this month, and Keel Infrastructure reported a $145 million net loss for Q1 while completing its transition away from large-scale mining.