MARA Holdings paid off its debts by selling 13,597 Bitcoin in just six weeks; the company may continue selling BTC to fund its AI data centers.
Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings announced that it sold 13,597 BTC worth approximately $1.1 billion since the end of September. The average price of the sales was recorded at approximately $81,039 per Bitcoin.
The amount sold represents approximately 40% of the 34,012 Bitcoin the company held at the end of September. In just six weeks, MARA released approximately six times the amount of Bitcoin it produced during the entire third quarter. The company used $750 million of the proceeds to pay off its Bitcoin-backed loans.
With the repayment of debts, 17,477 BTC locked as collateral were released. The share of Bitcoins lent or used as collateral by MARA in its total reserves fell from 57 percent at the end of September to below 5 percent.
These sales represent a significant departure from the company’s “holding all Bitcoins ever produced” policy, announced in July 2024. MARA began selling a portion of newly mined Bitcoins in 2025 and allowed the use of its accumulated reserves in 2026. With these latest transactions, the total amount of Bitcoin sold throughout 2026 has exceeded 40,000 BTC.
MARA plans to use the cash generated from Bitcoin sales for AI infrastructure, debt repayments, and potential share buybacks. The company’s board of directors has authorized share buybacks of up to $500 million.
The 35% drop in mining revenue to $164 million in the third quarter is seen as one of the key reasons for the strategy change. MARA is also preparing to acquire the Long Ridge natural gas plant and develop high-capacity AI data centers. Therefore, it can be expected that the company will make further sales of its Bitcoin holdings.
