MARA Holdings introduces a new $2 billion public stock offering to buy more Bitcoin

Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings is introducing a new $2 billion public stock offering to buy more Bitcoin. This move continues the company’s strategy of getting BTC into the open market through capital raises while adhering to its “Hodl” agenda.

MARA is known for its "hodl" agenda and has been focused on accumulating as much BTC as possible. Earlier this year, the firm announced plans to buy up to $500 million in Bitcoin.

Now, MARA is going a step further by setting up an at-the-market (ATM) equity program with a group of investment banks, including Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, BTIG, and Cantor Fitzgerald, among others acting as agents.

According to a Form 8-K and latest prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, the shares will be sold from time to time at MARA's discretion. The proceeds of the offering will be used mainly for the acquisition of Bitcoin in the open market.

"We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Bitcoin and for working capital," MARA said in its prospectus.

The firm, which specializes in finance services and has a market capitalization of $4.7 billion, maintains a strong liquidity position with a current ratio of 4.94, indicating its ability to meet short-term obligations.

The shares’ sale will be conducted through methods deemed to be an "at the market offering" or through other methods upon agreement. The agents are entitled to a commission of up to 3% of the gross proceeds from each sale.

At the same time, MARA has revoked its at-the-market offering agreement dated October 24, 2023, which authorized the sale of up to $1.5 billion in common stock. No additional sales will take place.

"This filing does not constitute an offer to sell the shares, and no sales will occur in any state where such offer or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state," the firm added.

The firm's move follows Michael Saylor's playbook of issuing equity and convertible bonds to accumulate Bitcoin.

MARA, a Bitcoin mining company, has become the second publicly listed firm to have the largest Bitcoin treasury holdings, with 46,376 BTC, closely trailing MicroStrategy's 506,137 BTC, according to blockchain analytics firm Glassnode.

Despite being a Bitcoin miner, MARA has increasingly relied on buying Bitcoin on the open market. The company adopted this strategy last year amid recognition that mining BTC at a discount to the spot price was becoming increasingly difficult.

The industry has come under tremendous pressure following the latest Bitcoin halving event, which halved the rewards for mining and pressured profit margins against surging operational costs.

This means that acquiring Bitcoin from the open market has become a comparatively better strategy for miners wanting to keep their mining operations going.

MARA's action comes at a time when Bitcoin has been subject to increased volatility but ever-strong institutional interest. The last five years have seen MARA deliver a very large total shareholder return of 2881.63%, reflecting significant strides in transforming its business strategy.