Marathon Digital sells 51% of Bitcoin produced in Q2 as net loss soars to $200m

Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital revealed in its Q2 financial report that it sold more than 50% of the BTC it mined during the quarter to cover operating costs.

Marathon Digital Holdings, a publicly traded American crypto mining company, saw its shares drop more than 7% on Thursday, August 1, after an earnings report showed that revenue fell significantly short of analysts’ expectations.

According to the report, the company produced a total of 2,058 Bitcoin (BTC) in Q2, representing a 30% decrease compared to Q2 2023. Marathon stated that it was forced to sell 51% of the BTC mined during the reporting period to cover “operating costs” as its net loss rose to almost $200 million.

Marathon’s Q2 2024 production highlights | Source: Marathon

Despite a nearly 80% increase in quarterly revenue to $145.1 million, Marathon’s performance missed analysts’ estimates of about $158 million. The shortfall marks the second consecutive quarter that the company has missed revenue projections after falling 15% in Q1 compared to Zacks Investment Research estimates.

Marathon aims to increase hash rate power

Marathon CEO Fred Thiel touched on the challenges, saying the company’s production was impacted by “unexpected equipment failures,” as well as transmission line maintenance, rising global hash rate, and the halving event in April.

However, Thiel assured investors that transformer issues at Marathon’s Ellendale facility “were mitigated and corrected after the end of the quarter,” adding that the company continues to target “50 exahash powered hashrate by the end of 2024 and additional growth in 2025.”

In late July, Marathon announced a $100 million Bitcoin purchase as part of its “HODL strategy,” bringing its total holdings to over 20,000 BTC. The company also announced that it will now hold all mined Bitcoin and “periodic strategic open market purchases” as part of its revised strategy.