MARA Holdings Deploys 7,377 BTC to Generate Low-Value Yield

MARA Holdings (MARA), the leading bitcoin (BTC) miner by market capitalization, has disclosed that it is lending out 7,377 BTC to third-party borrowers to generate returns and cover operating costs.

In a production report released on Friday, the company shared that this lending arrangement ties up around 16% of its total bitcoin holdings, although it did not provide details on the identities of the borrowers or the terms of the lending program. Robert Samuels, the company’s vice president of investor relations, revealed in a post on X that the lending program is yielding a return of less than 10%. “There has been considerable interest in MARA’s bitcoin lending program,” Samuels stated. “The program is focused on short-term agreements with trusted third parties and provides a modest, single-digit yield. It has been operational throughout 2024, with the aim of generating enough yield to help cover our operating expenses.”

The report also indicated that MARA produced 890 BTC in December, a 2% decrease compared to November, although it remains the second-highest production level since the reward halving in April.

Fred Thiel, the company’s Chairman and CEO, commented, “We mined 249 blocks in December, marking the second-largest monthly block production in our history. MARAPool’s hash rate grew by 168% in 2024, surpassing bitcoin’s network growth rate of 49%.”

For the full year of 2024, MARA acquired 22,065 BTC at an average price of $87,205 and mined an additional 9,457 BTC, bringing its total bitcoin holdings to 44,893 BTC. With bitcoin trading just below $100,000, MARA is now the second-largest publicly traded holder of bitcoin, trailing only MicroStrategy (MSTR).

In pre-market trading, MARA shares rose by 2.60%, bringing the company’s year-to-date gain to 14%.