CEO Says, Marathon Is The 2nd-Largest Listed BTC Holder
The United States-listed merchandise Since the beginning of July, the Bitcoin miner has created at least 1,231 Bitcoin but has not yet sold any of them.
Bitcoin (BTC) mining business Marathon Digital Holdings is now believed to be the second-largest Bitcoin holding among publicly traded corporations worldwide.
During the company’s third-quarter earnings call on November 8, Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel disclosed that the company now holds 11,300 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $205 million, “making Marathon the second largest holder of Bitcoin among publicly traded companies worldwide,” according to unidentified third-party data.
According to CoinGecko, the NASDAQ-listed cryptocurrency miner ranks second behind MicroStrategy Inc., which possesses approximately 130,000 Bitcoin in total. It is followed by crypto exchange Coinbase and payments provider Block Inc., established by Jack Dorsey.
The firm released its profits for the third quarter on November 8, reporting that 616 Bitcoin were added to its holdings throughout the quarter, and another 615 Bitcoin were added in October alone – the most productive month in the company’s history.
.@fgthiel: "We have sequentially improved our bitcoin production, from 72 bitcoin in July, to 184 in August, then to 360 in September, and then to a record 615 in October. October was the most productive month in our Company’s history…" pic.twitter.com/wsfv0XOIuV
— Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) (@MarathonDH) November 8, 2022
“The consistent improvement in our Bitcoin production is the direct result of increasing our hash rates by bringing more Bitcoin servers online and improving those servers,” said Thiel during the conference call.
The CEO of Marathon Digital also affirmed that the business has not sold any of its Bitcoin yet and would maintain this stance until it is considered “necessary to cover operational expenses or other expenses.”
This is in contrast to other prominent miners like Argo, Bitfarms, Core Scientific, and Riot Blockchain, which all acknowledged selling bitcoin to pay their costs.
Thiel also used the call to discuss the “battle” between Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Sam Bankman-Fried, which he says is causing “turmoil” for the price of Bitcoin. However, he predicted that the price would likely return to a range between $18,000 and $20,000, where they “feel very comfortable.”
The Bitcoin miner’s profitability took a hit in the third quarter, with its net loss almost doubling year-over-year to reach $75,4 million, and its revenue falling by 75.5% to $12.7 billion.
— Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) (@MarathonDH) November 8, 2022
As a result of the miner’s withdrawal from its Montana operation and dropping Bitcoin prices, quarterly BTC output fell short of analyst projections.
Thiel referred to the third quarter as a moment of “transition and rebuilding” following its leave from Hardin and as it starts to establish its capabilities in other regions, such as the King Mountain wind farm in Texas.
On November 7, competitor Bitcoin mining company Riot Blockchain likewise revealed results that fell short of analyst projections for the third quarter.
In the third quarter, the company’s total revenue decreased by 28.5% while its net loss increased by 139.2% owing to “significant curtailment activities” related to its Texas operations and a considerable reduction in the market price of Bitcoin compared to a year earlier.
According to Google Finance, both Riot Blockchain and Marathon Digital’s stock prices have decreased during the previous five days, with Riot Blockchain down 17.62% and Marathon Digital’s down 18.02%.
