Bitcoin mining company MARA delivered a stunning 248% surge in quarterly profit despite the industry-wide upheaval caused by last year’s Bitcoin halving event. The company transformed its 2023 strategy into a $528.3 million fourth-quarter windfall, shattering analyst expectations.
This remarkable performance comes eight months after Bitcoin’s April 2024 halving slashed mining rewards by 50%, forcing dozens of smaller miners to shut down operations across North America. MARA not only survived but thrived, posting record-high revenue of $214.4 million for Q4, a 37% increase from the same period in 2023, according to the company’s shareholder letter released Wednesday.
Strategic Pivot to Vertical Integration
MARA’s transformation from a pure Bitcoin miner to a vertically integrated energy company proved decisive in overcoming the halving’s challenges. The company secured 300% more energy capacity in 2024, expanding from approximately 0.5 gigawatts to 1.7 gigawatts.
“We acquired sites at prices 28% lower than what our peers paid for similar acquisitions,” MARA Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel wrote in the shareholder letter. This strategic approach increased the company’s owned data center portfolio from 0% to approximately 70% during 2024, significantly reducing reliance on third-party hosting.
The company also deployed 136 megawatts of owned power generating assets, including a 25-megawatt micro data center initiative at wellheads in Texas and North Dakota that converts excess flared gas into power. A recently acquired Texas wind farm with 240 megawatts of interconnection capacity will allow MARA to achieve “near zero marginal costs” by taking excess wind behind the meter.
Mining Production and Holdings Growth
Despite mining fewer bitcoins due to the halving, -2,492 BTC in Q4 2024 compared to 4,242 BTC in Q4 2023 – MARA significantly expanded its overall Bitcoin operations. The company’s energized hashrate jumped 115% to 53.2 exahashes per second (EH/s) by year-end, more than double the 24.7 EH/s reported a year earlier.
MARA’s bitcoin holdings grew 197% to 44,893 BTC (approximately $4.6 billion) by December 31, with the company mining 9,430 BTC throughout 2024 and purchasing an additional 15,574 BTC using proceeds from zero-coupon convertible notes. This aggressive accumulation strategy delivered a Bitcoin yield per share of 62.4% for 2024.
“We established the company’s leadership in Bitcoin mining through an asset light model, transformed it to a vertically integrated energy and infrastructure company in 2024,” Thiel noted, signaling MARA’s strategic differentiation from competitors still struggling with halving economics.
While the firm’s direct energy cost per bitcoin for owned mining operations increased to $28,801, the company’s cost optimization initiatives reduced the cost of revenue per petahash per day by 17% for the full year.
With 53.2 EH/s of hashrate, MARA now commands the largest mining fleet among publicly traded bitcoin miners, significantly ahead of competitors. The company’s return on capital employed reached 30.6% over the last 12 months – more than triple the returns of its closest rivals.
