MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), the publicly listed Bitcoin miner from Wall Street, reported mining 717 BTC in October, marking its strongest monthly production since April’s halving event. The crypto mining giant continues expanding its operations toward year-end targets.
The company’s energized hashrate reached 40.2 exahashes per second (EH/s) last month, representing a 14% increase from September levels. Despite winning slightly fewer blocks due to rising network difficulty, overall bitcoin production grew 2% month-over-month.
Fred Thiel, CEO, MARA, Source: LinkedIn
“Despite a slight month-over-month decrease in block wins, driven by the growth in global hash rate and the resulting rise in difficulty level, BTC production increased by 2% to 717 BTC,” said Fred Thiel, MARA’s Chairman and CEO.
Transaction fees provided a notable boost to October’s results, accounting for approximately 5% of total Bitcoin produced. Two significant transactions generated fees of 3.217 BTC and 2.665 BTC respectively, highlighting the potential upside from MARA’s proprietary mining technology platforms.
“We believe that our proprietary technology platforms such as Slipstream and MARAPool, our proprietary mining pool, allow us to capture all potential benefits and take advantage of higher transaction fees as they arise,” added Thiel.
As of October 31, MARA held 27,562 Bitcoin in its treasury, including 4,499 restricted BTC. The company maintained an average daily production rate of 23.1 BTC throughout October.
The company informed two weeks ago, that it acquired a $200 million line of credit. The company’s credit facility is backed by a segment of its cryptocurrency holdings, underscoring the increasing adoption of cryptocurrency-backed financing within the corporate sector.
MARA’s October 2024 #Bitcoin Production Update is here:
– Energized Hash Rate Increased 14% to 40.2 EH/s
– 717 Bitcoin Produced in October, 2% Increase M/M
– Transaction Fees Accounted for 5% of Total Bitcoin ProducedRead the full report: https://t.co/9kfGlNJqFX pic.twitter.com/5w7xxpl7Be
— MARA (@MARAHoldings) November 4, 2024
Bitcoin Production Costs Hit $49,500
Although the production numbers are rising, MARA and other publicly listed Bitcoin miners from Wall Street are contending with rising production expenses, with the average cost to mine one Bitcoin reaching $49,500 in the second quarter. When including depreciation and stock-based compensation, this figure escalates to $96,100 per Bitcoin, significantly impacting profit margins.
CoinShares’ recent report notes that the industry is facing substantial challenges this year, with declining revenues and hash prices. Increased market activity has elevated mining difficulty to record levels, further exacerbating production costs.
In response to these pressures, many mining operations are adjusting their business strategies. Some are diversifying into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing services to offset the financial strain caused by escalating production costs.
A comparative study between Bitcoin mining and direct investment highlights key financial dynamics (infographic above). A typical 1 MW mining project, using advanced equipment like the Canaan Avalon A1566, demands around $740,000 upfront. Assuming Bitcoin prices reach $130,000 by late 2026 and electricity costs remain at $0.045 per kilowatt-hour, operators could recover their initial investment in approximately 27 months.
