[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] Bitcoin mining company MARA (MARA) sold 13,597 bitcoin and repaid $750 million in debt.
On Nov. 9 (local time), blockchain outlet The Defiant reported that MARA also approved a new share buyback programme of up to $500 million as part of the sale.
In its third-quarter 2026 earnings release issued that day, MARA said it had raised about $1.1 billion from bitcoin sales since Sept. 30. It used $750 million of that to fully repay bitcoin-backed loans and received back 17,477 bitcoin that had been pledged as collateral. By settling the loans, it also regained assets that had been tied up as collateral.
MARA plans to continue selling bitcoin to secure cash needed for investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure, repayment of convertible bonds and share buybacks. The buyback approval sets a maximum limit, and the company is not required to execute the full approved amount. The actual size and timing of purchases may vary depending on the company's cash management.
In its data centre business, contract schedules have also faced uncertainty. MARA said it is in talks with potential customers for lease agreements, but two deals it had targeted to sign by year-end could be pushed back to 2027 depending on market conditions. With negotiations ongoing, the timing and terms of any contracts have not been finalised.
In its AI business, it also secured a new contract. Exaion, a subsidiary in which MARA holds a controlling stake, signed a four-year GPU services contract worth $79 million with its first U.S. customer. Under the deal, the customer pays for the contracted computing capacity regardless of actual usage.
The moves show that MARA is using its bitcoin holdings for debt management and business investment. Rather than holding bitcoin over the long term alone, it is converting holdings into cash in line with its financial position and investment needs. By adding share buybacks as an option, it laid out an approach to allocate funds among debt repayment, AI infrastructure investment and shareholder returns.
A key area to watch will be where, and how much, of the funds raised through bitcoin sales are actually deployed. While it has completed repayment of collateralised loans, it also needs funds for convertible bond repayments and AI infrastructure investment, making it necessary to track the scale of any buyback execution. Whether data centre lease talks lead to signed contracts is another major variable. After Exaion's new contract, securing long-term lease agreements is expected to be an indicator of the pace of MARA's AI business expansion.
