Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Holdings, Inc. (MARA) ("Marathon" or the "Company"), one of the world’s largest publicly traded Bitcoin miners and a leader in supporting and securing the Bitcoin ecosystem, today published unaudited bitcoin (“BTC”) production and miner installation updates for April 2024.
Management Commentary
"With capacity in Ellendale coming back online and improvements made at other sites, we increased our average operational hash rate 15% in April to 21.1 exahash and increased our bitcoin production 21% to 850 bitcoin," said Fred Thiel, Marathon's chairman and CEO. "In April, we achieved an all time operating hash rate high of 25.9 exahash. Transaction fees also reached all time highs around the Halving, which we were able to capitalize on with our Slipstream service and our proprietary mining pool. Just before the Halving, we earned an additional 4.25 bitcoin from Slipstream alone, and MARA Pool outperformed, capturing one block with 10 bitcoin and another with 16 bitcoin in transaction fees. Ultimately, transaction fees accounted for approximately 16% of the bitcoin we earned in April.
"We continued to expand into the available capacity at our recently acquired sites, including those at Kearney and Garden City. During April, we successfully energized approximately 2 exahash worth of miners at various locations, which includes the 9,500 machines we relocated from Ellendale to Garden City.
"While last month's Halving event will reduce bitcoin production for all miners, we are accelerating our growth plans to mitigate the impact. Given the amount of capacity we have available following our recent acquisitions and the amount of hash rate we have access to through current machine orders and options, we now believe it is possible for us to double the scale of Marathon’s mining operations in 2024 and achieve 50 exahash by the end of the year. With this growth fully funded based on our current liquidity, we look forward to improving our position as a leader in converting underutilized energy into economic value."
Operational Highlights and Updates
Figure 1: Operational Highlights
| Year-Over-Year Comparison | Prior Month Comparison | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metric | 4/30/2024 | 4/30/2023 | % Δ | 4/30/2024 | 3/31/2024 | % Δ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bitcoin Produced | 850 | 702 | 21 | % | 850 | 894 | (5 | )% | ||||||||||||||||
| Average Bitcoin Produced per Day | 28.3 | 23.4 | 21 | % | 28.3 | 28.8 | (2 | )% | ||||||||||||||||
| Share of available miner rewards 1 | 3.2 | % | 2.5 | % | NA | 3.2 | % | 3.0 | % | NA | ||||||||||||||
| Transaction Fees as % of Total 5 | 16.2 | % | 3.0 | % | NA | 16.2 | % | 4.5 | % | NA | ||||||||||||||
| Number of Blocks Won 5 | 129 | 99 | 30 | % | 129 | 118 | 9 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Energized Hash Rate (EH/s) 2 | 29.9 | 14.0 | 114 | % | 29.9 | 27.8 | 8 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Average Operational Hash Rate (EH/s) 3 | 21.1 | 10.6 | 99 | % | 21.1 | 18.3 | 15 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Installed Hash Rate (EH/s) 4 | 29.9 | 17.9 | 67 | % | 29.9 | 27.8 | 7 | % | ||||||||||||||||
In April, Marathon energized approximately 14,000 additional miners (c. 2.0 EH/s), 9,500 of which were successfully relocated from Ellendale to Garden City. As a result, Marathon's operating fleet increased to approximately 240,000 Bitcoin miners, theoretically capable of producing 29.9 EH/s. In April, Marathon also achieved an all time operating hash rate high of 25.9 EH/s. Hash rate figures are calculated according to the manufacturers' specifications.
Figure 2: Operational Details by Site
| Hash Rates in EH/s | Installed Hash Rate | Energized Hash Rate | Avg Operating Hash Rate | Avg % of Energized | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Site | State | Host | Apr 2024 | Mar 2024 | Apr 2024 | Mar 2024 | Apr 2024 | Mar 2024 | Apr 2024 | Mar 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned Operated | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Granbury | TX | Marathon | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 82 | % | 77 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Garden City | TX | Marathon | 5.8 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 3.5 | 79 | % | 78 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kearney | NE | Marathon | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 63 | % | 67 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total owned operated | 12.1 | 9.9 | 12.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 | 7.5 | 78 | % | 76 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Third-party Hosted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| McCamey | TX | US Bitcoin | 7.6 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 82 | % | 83 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ellendale | ND | Applied | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 29 | % | 14 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jamestown | ND | Applied | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 99 | % | 98 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All Other | Various | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 96 | % | 88 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total third-party hosted | 17.8 | 17.9 | 17.8 | 17.9 | 11.7 | 10.7 | 66 | % | 60 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 29.9 | 27.8 | 29.9 | 27.8 | 21.1 | 18.2 | 71 | % | 65 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As of April 30, 2024 the Company holds a total of 17,631 unrestricted BTC. Marathon opted to sell 600 bitcoin in April. The Company still intends to sell a portion of its bitcoin holdings in future periods to support monthly operations, manage its treasury, and for general corporate purposes.
Financial Highlights and Updates
Figure 3: Financial Highlights
| Year-Over-Year Comparison | Prior Month Comparison | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metric | 4/30/2024 | 4/30/2023 | % Δ | 4/30/2024 | 3/31/2024 | % Δ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total Cash, Cash Equivalents & Restricted Cash ($, in millions) | $ | 145.3 | $ | 123.5 | 18 | % | $ | 145.3 | $ | 324.3 | (55 | )% | ||||||||||||
| Unrestricted Cash | 133.3 | 123.5 | 8 | % | 133.3 | 324.3 | (59 | )% | ||||||||||||||||
| Restricted Cash | 12.0 | — | NA | 12.0 | — | NA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total BTC Holdings (in whole numbers) | 17,631 | 11,568 | 52 | % | 17,631 | 17,381 | 1 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Unrestricted BTC Holdings | 17,631 | 11,568 | 52 | % | 17,631 | 17,381 | 1 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Restricted BTC Holdings | — | — | NA | — | — | NA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pledged BTC Holdings | — | — | NA | — | — | NA | ||||||||||||||||||
Marathon held $145.3 million in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet at month end, $133.3 of which was unrestricted. During April, the combined balance of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and bitcoin decreased from $1,563.4 million to $1,214.1 million at April 30, 2024.
Marathon's first quarter 2024 webcast and conference call is set for Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 5:00 pm Eastern time. To register to participate in the conference call or to listen to the live audio webcast, please use this link.
Earnings Webcast and Conference Call Details
Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (2:00 p.m. Pacific time)
Registration link: LINK