Second largest publicly traded bitcoin holder, cryptocurrency mining company Marathon Digital Holdings, has sold part of its bitcoin (BTC) for the first time in two years.
A spokesperson told Cointelegraph that this was not the result of financial difficulties.
According to an update posted on February 2, the company revealed that during January it sold 1,500 BTC, worth $35.3 million at current prices.
While some cryptocurrency miners have been forced to sell bitcoin due to difficulties, Marathon’s vice president of corporate communications Charlie Schumacher said this was not the case for Marathon.
Schumacher said that Marathon had been holding onto its bitcoin until now, as the company did not want to sell while production was down, and has been bullish on the long-term prospects for the leading cryptocurrency.
But Heading into the new year, Marathon wants to have a “war chest” of liquidity made up of both cash and bitcoin, and is trying to continue paying down its debt and increasing its cash positions.
Schumacher also noted that the recent rise in the price of bitcoin contributed to his decision to sell part of his holdings.
In January, the bitcoin price topped $24,000 for the first time since August.
Even after the sale, Marathon managed to increase its unrestricted bitcoin holdings for the month to 8,090 BTC ($189.8 million).
Marathon claimed that it had also significantly increased its bitcoin production throughout January, producing 687 BTC, which is a 45% increase compared to the previous month.. In the update, Marathon President and CEO Fred Thiel noted:
“The improvement in our bitcoin production was primarily the result of our team’s ability to work in conjunction with the new hosting provider in McCamey, Texas, to resolve technical and maintenance issues at the King Mountain data center that they had suppressed our bitcoin production in Q4 2022.”
Last year, Marathon noted in a May 4 update that the last time he had sold bitcoin was on October 21, 2020.and has been hodling ever since.
When asked how he managed to avoid selling the The main product of its business operations, Schumacher pointed to the company’s low number of employees, which consists of “32 people today”, and suggested that it was the result of sound long-term financial strategies.
According to CoinGecko, Marathon is the second largest publicly traded bitcoin holder, behind only software analytics firm MicroStrategy. In recent days it has registered a significant boost in its share price, which so far this year has risen 135% to USD 8, according to MarketWatch.
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