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MicroStrategy Acquires 4,167 BTC And Marathon Holds 1,259 Self-Mined BTC

Another day, another MicroStrategy bitcoin buy. The Michael Saylor-led company is relentless in its BTC accumulation strategy. In a similar position, the bitcoin mining giant Marathon Digital Holdings doubles down on its no-selling policy. Which is also a BTC accumulation strategy. Will these two giants go down in history as pioneers? 

Related Reading | Treasury Management Firm Says CFOs Avoid Risk, Bitcoin Won’t Become Corporate Vehicle

These companies are adopting the Bitcoin Standard as a way of life. Let’s look at MicroStrategy and Marathon’s stats, where do these new acquisitions put them on the BTC leaderboard? And, how did the market react to both news?

MicroStrategy, Even More Aggressive

The man himself, Michael Saylor announced the acquisition via his very active Twitter:

“MacroStrategy has purchased an additional 4,167 bitcoins for ~$190.5 million at an average price of ~$45,714 per bitcoin. As of 4/4/22 MicroStrategy hodls ~129,218 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.97 billion at an average price of ~$30,700 per bitcoin.”

MacroStrategy has purchased an additional 4,167 bitcoins for ~$190.5 million at an average price of ~$45,714 per #bitcoin. As of 4/4/22 MicroStrategy #hodls ~129,218 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.97 billion at an average price of ~$30,700 per bitcoin. $MSTRhttps://t.co/Z45OuJU5KI

— Michael Saylor⚡ (@saylor) April 5, 2022

To clarify, MacroStrategy is a MicroStrategy subsidiary. This seems to be the buy the company did with the $200M bitcoin-collateralized loan they took a week ago. Our sister site Bitcoinist explains and clarifies:

“The company took the loan via MacroStrategy, a subsidiary created with the purpose of holding its parent company’s Bitcoin funds. As per the release, the $205 million loans were issued under the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) and its Leverage program and will mature on March 23, 2025.

The SEN was launched in 2020, the release clarified, to address the demand for BTC collateralized loans.”

Even though 129,218 BTC is a lot for just one entity, it’s beneficial to remember that those are not Michael Saylor’s coins. The treasury belongs to MicroStrategy, a public company owned by many. Still, they own almost triple what Tesla owns. And MicroStrategy keeps on buying. 

Many people talk about buying the dip. But when the dip comes, they panic and sell (as oppose to buy).

This is how you do it.👍 https://t.co/VcAB6NeQoc

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) April 5, 2022

Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao reacted to the news with high praise. “Many people talk about buying the dip. But when the dip comes, they panic and sell (as oppose to buy). This is how you do it,” he wrote.

BTC price chart for 04/05/2022 on Kraken | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Marathon, Even More “Hodling”

In a recent press release, Marathon Digital Holdings announced very healthy-sounding numbers. The company “produced a record 1,258.6 self-mined bitcoin during Q1 2022, a 556% increase from 191.8 self-mined bitcoin in Q1 2021 and a 15% sequential increase from 1,098.2 self-mined bitcoin in Q4 2021.” Plus, in March alone, they “successfully deployed 1,320 miners.”

About the increase, the company’s CEO Fred Thiel said: 

“In the first quarter of 2022, we increased our bitcoin production 15% from the prior quarter and produced a record 1,259 bitcoin even as the global hash rate rose by approximately 17%,”

Where does that put them on the bitcoin leaderboard? Well, Marathon “increased total bitcoin holdings to approximately 9,373.6 BTC with a fair market value of approximately $427.7 million.” The company’s accumulation strategy began in October 2020, the last time Marathon sold bitcoin. 

Related Reading | Allied Payment Partners NYDIG, Adds Bitcoin To Corporate Treasury 

MicroStrategy, The Leaderboard, And The Market

According to the Bitcoin Treasuries list, these acquisitions put both companies at the bookends of the Top 5. That is:

  1. MicroStrategy, 125,051 BTC
  2. Tesla Inc., 42,902 BTC
  3. Galaxy Digital Holdings, 16,400 BTC
  4. Voyager Digital LTD, 12,260 BTC
  5. Marathon Digital Holdings, 8,956 BTC

Nevertheless, the market seems to have reacted negatively to the news. At 9 am, BTC traded in the $47K range. It dropped continually during the day and around noon it was trading in the $45.5K range. Is MicroStrategy to blame? Or was it just a coincidence?

Featured Image by terimakasih0 on Pixabay | Charts by TradingView

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U.S. Mining Company Marathon Now Holds 8,133 BTC. And They’re Not Selling It

In their December report, Marathon Digital Holdings announced their total BTC holdings. And assured their investors that they were not selling any of it any time soon. This is particularly interesting considering the company bought “a record number” of S19s in December. Reportedly, they got a giant loan using Bitcoin as collateral. An operation we’ll see a lot more in the near future throughout the industry. 

The report quotes Fred Thiel, Marathon’s CEO, in a celebratory mode. “2021 was a transformative year for Marathon as we increased our hash rate 1,790% and increased our bitcoin production 846% year-over-year to 3,197 self-mined BTC.” Staggering numbers that show the size of the Bitcoin mining business.

As for their plans, the report says:

“The Company last sold bitcoin on October 21, 2020, and since then, has been accumulating or “hodling” all bitcoin generated. As a result, Marathon currently holds approximately 8,133 BTC, including the 4,813 BTC the Company purchased in January 2021 for an average price of $31,168 per BTC.”

Of course, they’re not alone. NewsBTC documented the trend throughout the whole year. 

Most Miners Are Holding Strong

One of the first persons to spot the trend was Lex Moskovski. In February, the analyst reported on “the first day since Dec, 27 when Miners Position change turned positive.” 

Approximately four months ago, NewsBTC used data to find a possible explanation:

“Data shows that miner profitability has dropped in comparison to the last time that bitcoin was at this price. The profitability for bitcoin back in April at $50K had been 40% higher than it is right now when bitcoin hit $50K again. This means that miner profitability is hitting the lows at all-time highs.

This drop in profitability has seen miners refusing to sell the BTC they are rewarded with for mining blocks. Instead choosing to hold these coins in wait for much higher prices.”

Miner profitability might be decreasing, but, the business is still a long way from turning red. Especially for a giant operation like Marathon. In a recent interview that NewsBTC reported on, Fred Thiel said.

“Thiel expressed that, factoring operational mining costs (energy plus hosting), Bitcoin’s breakeven rate is roughly $6,500, meaning that the digital coin would need to drop at least 80% for Marathon to face challenging difficulties.”

Less than three months ago, NewsBTC reported on another set of data that showed the same phenomenon:

“As pointed out by a CryptoQuant post, BTC miner reserves continue to trend sideways amid the coin’s strong move up. The “miner reserve” is a indicator that shows the total amount of Bitcoin that miners are currently holding in their wallets. An increase in the metric’s value suggests miners think the coin’s value will go up in the near future, hence they are stocking up on it.”

BTC price chart for 01/05/2021 on FX | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
The Marathon Mining Company’s Future

The company’s recent billion-dollar investment is a play for the future. Especially considering just when those machines will arrive.

“On December 23, 2021, Marathon announced that it had entered into a contract with BITMAIN to purchase a record number of ANTMINER S19 XP (140 TH/s) bitcoin miners, all of which are currently expected to ship from BITMAIN between July 2022 and December 2022.”

The chip shortage is real, people. If an order this size can only be fulfilled in six to twelve months, something’s up. Also, by the looks of it, the ASIC manufacturing business might be even more profitable than Bitcoin mining.

Featured Image by Mārtiņš Zemlickis on Unsplash – Charts by TradingView