Bitcoin Miner MARA Stock Under Pressure Following $1.5 Billion Bitcoin Sell-Off

MARA Holdings still has in its coffers 35,303 Bitcoin valued at roughly $2.84 billion, making it the fourth largest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world. But that position comes after the company sold a significant chunk of its reserves — and investors took notice.

A Rough Quarter By The Numbers

MARA’s stock dropped 5% during Tuesday’s trading session, touching an intraday low of $11.74 before closing around $12.65. After-hours trading brought another 1.85% decline.

The sell-off followed the release of the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings, which showed a net loss of $1.26 billion — more than double the $533 million loss recorded in the same period last year. Revenue came in at $175 million, down 18% from a year ago, partly due to falling Bitcoin prices.

During the quarter, MARA sold 20,880 BTC worth nearly $1.5 billion. A large portion of those sales — 15,133 BTC sold between March 4 and March 25 for about $1 billion — went toward buying back convertible notes.

About $1 billion of the proceeds were used to reduce the company’s convertible debt load from $3.3 billion to $2.3 billion, a reduction of roughly 30%. That transaction generated a $71 million gain from debt extinguishment.

Shifting Away From Mining

MARA is making a clear move away from aggressive Bitcoin mining. Officials said the company does not plan to make large-scale purchases of ASIC mining hardware going forward.

About 90% of its non-hosted mining capacity can reportedly be converted into AI and IT infrastructure. The company said its strategy centers on placing new infrastructure alongside existing Bitcoin mining operations, allowing it to generate revenue from power assets while drawing on its operational experience in mining.

The company is also cutting 15% of its workforce, a move expected to save $12 million annually.

The biggest move, though, is the acquisition of Long Ridge Energy from FTAI Infrastructure. The deal is valued at close to $1.5 billion, including about $785 million in debt, and marks the largest acquisition in MARA’s history.

Long Ridge operates a 505-megawatt combined-cycle gas power plant in Ohio and sits on more than 1,600 contiguous acres. MARA projects $144 million in annualized EBITDA from the asset.

Despite Tuesday’s drop, MARA shares are up 30% over the past month. Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, continues to buy while MARA sells and restructures — a contrast that reflects how differently companies in the space are approaching the current environment.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView