- Marathon Digital Holdings, a publicly-traded Bitcoin mining company, reported a 9% decrease in Bitcoin production in August 2023 compared to the previous month.
- Despite the monthly decrease, the company recorded significant growth compared to the previous year. In August 2022, Marathon’s average daily production was 5.9 BTC.
- Marathon’s joint venture launched earlier this year in Abu Dhabi contributed 50 Bitcoin to production in August, representing approximately 10% of Marathon’s share.
Marathon Digital Holdings, a publicly-traded Bitcoin mining company; Why Was Less BTC Produced?
Marathon Reports Decrease in Bitcoin Production
Marathon Digital Holdings, a publicly-traded Bitcoin mining company, reported a 9% decrease in Bitcoin production in August 2023 compared to the previous month. According to the company, the production decline was primarily due to temporary closures of mining operations in places with extreme hot weather conditions in Texas.
Marathon announced in unaudited business updates for August that it had mined 1,072 Bitcoin during the month, representing a 9% decrease compared to July.
Marathon’s President and CEO, Fred Thiel, stated that the decline was primarily due to “increased shutdown activity due to record-high temperatures recorded in Texas” and that these temporary closures “exceeded the progress we recorded in increasing our operational hash rate and optimizing our operations.”
Despite the monthly decrease, the company recorded significant growth compared to the previous year. In August 2022, Marathon’s average daily production was 5.9 BTC, and since then, it has increased by 477% to 34.3 BTC per day.
Marathon Reports Operational and Installed Hashrate Increase
Marathon reported a 2% monthly increase in its operational hash rate in the United States, which currently stands at 19.1 EH/s. The company stated that this growth was achieved by replacing old Bitmain S19 J Pro miners with more efficient S19 XP mining equipment.
Additionally, Marathon is awaiting the completion of documents for its new facility in Garden City, Texas, where it expects to further enhance its operational capabilities.
The company has also reached its main internal growth target for the installed hash rate, which is 23 EH/s. According to Thiel, the total expected hash rate when fully deployed is currently 30 EH/s, including 2 EH/s planned outside the United States and an additional 5 EH/s of contracted capacity.
Marathon’s joint venture launched earlier this year in Abu Dhabi contributed 50 Bitcoin to production in August, representing approximately 10% of Marathon’s share. The operation’s operational hash rate has reached 1.5 EH/s, with plans to scale to 7.0 EH/s by the end of the year.
In a statement to COINOTAG last month, Marathon’s CEO mentioned that the mining company is considering expansion in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, stating:
“We definitely believe there are very interesting opportunities in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and over time, it will probably be 50/50 between the US and the rest of the world.”
As of August 31, 2023, Marathon held a total of 13,286 BTC, with 13,111 BTC being unrestricted. The company sold 750 BTC during the month and has further plans to sell a portion of its Bitcoin assets.
The company stated that this is done “to support monthly operations, manage its treasury, and for general corporate purposes.” Additionally, Marathon occasionally uses some of its Bitcoin for various treasury activities.
The company ended August with $111.2 million in cash and cash equivalents. The combined balance of unrestricted cash and Bitcoin more than doubled compared to the same period last year, reaching over $201.5 million.
