MARA Sold 13,597 Bitcoin to Pay Off $750 Million in Loans. How Much Bitcoin Does It Have Left?
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA | MARA Price Prediction) sold 13,597 Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) after the close of its third quarter, at an average of about $81,039 per coin. The sale brought in roughly $1.1 billion, according to a letter to shareholders filed on November 9, 2026. The company used the proceeds to fully pay off $750 million in Bitcoin-backed loans. In this type of loan, the borrower puts up Bitcoin as collateral, which the lender can seize if payments stop.
MARA’s stock rose on the news, up 12.7% to around $7 as of November 10, but Bitcoin didn’t follow. It trades at $73,227, down 2.6% over the past 24 hours. So how much Bitcoin does MARA have left, and does the sale help the coin?
Why Did MARA Borrow Against Bitcoin Before Selling It?
MARA took out the loans in August, when Bitcoin was trading around $64,000. The funds went toward its pending purchase of Long Ridge, a 485-megawatt natural gas power plant. By selling Bitcoin at about $81,039, 27% above Bitcoin’s price when it borrowed, the company settled its debt and freed up 18,750 Bitcoin previously used as collateral. The shareholder letter does not disclose who bought the coins or which lenders were involved.
Salman Khan, representing MARA during the earnings call, stated that “discipline and patient execution enabled us to capture an estimated net benefit of $170 million.” However, the call didn’t show how MARA calculated that figure, so it remains management’s own estimate.
MARA’s Revenue Fell 35% as It Shifts Toward AI Data Centers
Mining still generates revenue for MARA, but at lower levels. In the third quarter, the company mined 2,247 Bitcoin, but revenue dropped to $164.2 million from $252.4 million a year earlier, largely due to a 37% fall in the average price of mined Bitcoin. Net income of $632.1 million came mostly from an $885.3 million unrealized gain, a paper profit from valuing its Bitcoin at the quarter-end price.
At the same time, MARA is pivoting toward AI data centers. Its Exaion unit signed a four-year, $79 million contract to rent out GPUs, the chips that power AI, and management aims to sign two data center leases by year-end. The letter says MARA plans to “continue monetizing bitcoin to fund AI infrastructure, satisfy convertible note puts exercisable next year, and pursue potential share repurchases.” A convertible note put lets bondholders demand early repayment.
After the quarter, the board authorized up to $500 million for share buybacks, which shows how MARA views its assets. The company treats Bitcoin primarily as a source of cash while buying back shares trading at 0.74 times book value, below what its balance sheet says the company is worth.
MARA Is Selling Bitcoin Faster Than It Mines It
In the third quarter, MARA sold 3,891 Bitcoin at an average price of $75,300, which is 1,644 more coins than it mined during that period. According to its 10-Q filing with regulators, the company sold approximately 26,984 Bitcoin in the first nine months of 2026, and the post-quarter sale lifts this year’s total to about 40,581. Meanwhile, production over the same nine months was 6,916 coins.
Each mined coin remains profitable. MARA’s energy cost for mining a single Bitcoin was $39,674, about 46% below Bitcoin’s current price. However, rather than holding on to Bitcoin, MARA is putting cash from coin sales into data centers and buybacks as mining profitability tightens.
Other miners are adopting similar strategies. Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) reported 5,821 Bitcoin held as collateral, has signed around $9.8 billion in AI data center leases, and has been selling its coins too. Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT) used Bitcoin sales to repurchase about $250 million in stock and raised its buyback authorization to $1 billion, as part of a broader Hut 8 sell-down.
MARA also sold while large holders were buying in October. On-chain tracker Lookonchain noted that MARA moved another 500 BTC, valued at $37.4 million, on November 10. That transfer hasn’t been confirmed as a sale, and it could be a shift in custody.
How Much Bitcoin Does MARA Have Left, and Does Bitcoin Gain Anything?
MARA has approximately 20,415 Bitcoin left, valued at about $1.5 billion at $73,227. That figure starts with the 34,012 Bitcoin held on September 30, minus the 13,597 sold, and doesn’t account for coins mined or sold since. If MARA’s fourth-quarter report shows fewer than 20,415 Bitcoin, the company has kept selling more coins than it mined since September.
MARA benefits significantly, but Bitcoin gains nothing. MARA’s debt has decreased by $1.4 billion, or 37%, since the start of 2026, and its pledged coins now make up less than 5% of its holdings. However, the market had to absorb 13,597 MARA coins sold, alongside other public companies selling in early November. Should MARA use Bitcoin to cover the convertible note puts due in 2027, its remaining Bitcoin could shrink further.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
