MARA Bitcoin miner posts $1.7B quarterly loss as BTC slumps

In its latest quarterly update, MARA Holdings confronted a stark reality: even as its bitcoin mining fleet generated fewer coins, the company’s balance sheet was weighed down by falling crypto valuations and a strategic pivot away from pure mining. MARA reported a fourth-quarter 2025 net loss of $1.71 billion, or $4.52 per diluted share, compared with a year-earlier net income of $528.3 million. Revenue slipped 6% year over year to $202.3 million, as a softer Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price offset a higher hashrate. For the full year, the firm posted a net loss of $1.31 billion on revenue of $907.1 million, reversing 2024’s $541 million profit.

Key takeaways

• MARA’s Q4 2025 net loss was $1.71 billion and revenue was $202.3 million, with earnings pressured by the decline in BTC prices despite a higher mining hashrate.
• For the full year 2025, the company recorded a net loss of $1.31 billion on $907.1 million in revenue, reversing 2024’s profit as crypto prices remained volatile.
• A $1.5 billion negative adjustment to the fair value of digital assets and receivables contributed to the quarterly loss, reflecting BTC price declines from around $114,300 on Sept. 30 to $88,800 on Dec. 31 (per CoinGecko).
• MAR A’s BTC holdings at year-end totaled 53,822, with 15,315 pledged or loaned, and the balance-sheet BTC carried a roughly $4.7 billion value at quarter-end prices.
• The company unveiled a strategic pivot into AI and high-performance compute, including a joint venture with Starwood Digital Ventures to build data centers at power-rich sites, initially targeting more than 1 GW of IT capacity and potentially expanding to 2.5 GW.
• In February, MARA acquired a 64% stake in Exaion to pursue sovereign-grade and enterprise AI deployments as part of the broader diversification plan.

Tickers mentioned: $BTC, $MARA

Sentiment: Bearish

Price impact: Negative. MARA’s stock has fallen about 46% over the past six months as results and strategic pivots weigh on investor sentiment.

Trading idea (Not Financial Advice): Hold. While the transition toward AI/HPC is notable, near-term investors should watch project execution and BTC price stability before reassessing risk/reward.

Market context: The results come amid a broader crypto downturn where mining economics remain sensitive to BTC price swings, regulator signals, and capital allocation shifts among miners pursuing diversified revenue streams rather than pure hodling or mining.

Why it matters

The quarterly and annual figures underscore a pivotal moment for MARA as it moves beyond a pure-play bitcoin miner toward an energy and digital infrastructure company. The heavy accounting hit from the fair value of digital assets illustrates how price volatility can disproportionately affect mining-focused models, even when production levels hold steady or improve. By contrast, the balance sheet remains robust in crypto terms, with a substantial BTC stash that, on paper, still carries significant value given the ongoing, albeit uneven, interest in asset-backed mining operations.

Beyond the numbers, the strategic pivot is the centerpiece. MARA’s collaboration with Starwood Digital Ventures aims to unlock a significant AI/HPC footprint on existing energy-rich sites, a move that could open new revenue channels independent of BTC cycles. The plan envisions more than 1 gigawatt of IT capacity in the initial phase, with a roadmap to exceed 2.5 GW over time. Crucially, MARA retains the option to invest up to 50% in individual projects, while continuing to mine where power remains economical. This hybrid model reflects a broader industry trend: miners seeking to hedge against crypto price volatility by anchoring operations in data centers and AI workloads that can generate steady, long-term demand.

Additionally, the February acquisition of a 64% stake in Exaion signals a concrete push into AI deployments that could leverage MARA’s grid-scale energy footprint. Exaion’s focus on sovereign-grade and enterprise AI deployments aligns with the growing demand for specialized compute resources, particularly at the intersection of crypto mining infrastructure and high-performance compute networks. As more miners explore blended business models, MARA’s approach stands out for attempting to formalize AI-centric data center capacity alongside mining operations.

In comparison, peers are testing similar pivots with varying degrees of commitment. Some miners are leaning into large AI data-center leases, while others continue to emphasize a combined strategy of mining and hoarding BTC to preserve, and potentially grow, crypto exposure. The sector’s direction remains dependent on macro conditions, including BTC price trajectories, energy costs, and regulatory developments that could influence the economics of large-scale mining and data-center deployments alike.

The financials also hint at the balancing act between growth investments and shareholder value. If the Starwood joint venture and Exaion initiatives deliver on capacity and utilization, MARA could unlock a multi-year path toward diversified cash flows. Yet the immediate picture is clouded by historical volatility in the crypto markets and the challenge of turning large capex programs into near-term profits. Investors will be watching how the company manages capital deployment, debt, and any potential tranche financing to accelerate its AI/HPC push while supporting ongoing mining operations.

The company’s overall strategy, while ambitious, mirrors a broader move within the crypto hardware space toward building resilient, diversified platforms. As data centers become a more common anchor for crypto firms, MARA’s ability to translate capacity into meaningful revenue streams will be a key test for the model’s sustainability in a market where price signals for BTC remain bifurcated and often unpredictable.

What to watch next

• Progress updates on the Starwood Digital Ventures AI/HPC data-center partnership, including projected milestones for the initial >1 GW capacity and any expansions toward 2.5 GW.
• Operational and financial details on Exaion deployments and contracts, particularly any sovereign-grade AI projects and enterprise compute commitments.
• Bitcoin price movements and realized/batched mining yields as MARA advances its hybrid strategy, plus any changes to the company’s balance-sheet BTC position or collateral arrangements.
• Any capital-raising efforts, debt restructurings, or financing agreements tied to the new AI/HPC initiatives and data-center builds.
• Regulatory developments affecting crypto mining, energy use, and AI infrastructure deployments that could impact project economics or timelines.

Sources & verification

• MARA Holdings Q4 2025 shareholder letter filed with the SEC (SEC: q425shareholderletter.htm).
• Bitcoin price data used for the fair value discussion (CoinGecko: bitcoin).
• Company updates and stock performance coverage (Yahoo Finance: MARA).
• Exaion stake and AI/HPC deployments referenced in MARA communications (Cointelegraph article on Exaion stake).

Key figures and next steps

What the announcement changes

The fourth quarter reports reveal a company navigating a difficult macro environment for mining while actively pursuing a structural shift toward AI-enabled data centers. If successful, the Starwood JV and Exaion partnerships could provide MARA with nonmining revenue streams that weather BTC price cycles. The path forward will hinge on project execution, the pace of capacity buildup, and the ability to translate compute demand into sustained profitability.

Sources & verification

• SEC filing: q425shareholderletter.htm
• CoinGecko data: bitcoin
• Yahoo Finance: MARA
• Exaion stake coverage: Cointelegraph

This article was originally published as MARA Bitcoin miner posts $1.7B quarterly loss as BTC slumps on Crypto Breaking News – your trusted source for crypto news, Bitcoin news, and blockchain updates.