MARA cuts jobs after $1.1B Bitcoin sale as AI becomes its next big bet

MARA Holdings is downsizing and has just started layoffs across multiple departments, according to Blockspace Media. Insiders claim the company cut off some employees on Wednesday and Thursday this week. However, so far, the company hasn’t disclosed how many workers were affected or what fraction of its staff that represents.

Leading up to the layoffs, the firm had liquidated 15,133 Bitcoins between March 4 and 25, worth about $1.1 billion. The proceeds helped the company repurchase part of its outstanding notes due in 2030 and 2031, enabling it to reduce debt at about a 9% discount. 

The firm put about $912.8 million to work to retire $1 billion in debt, specifically across the 2030 bonds ($367.5 million) and the 2031 bonds ($633.4 million), saving roughly  $88.1 million. Now, MARA’s outstanding balance stands at $632.5 million for 2030 notes and $291.6 million for 2031 notes.

MARA is working with Starwood Digital to handle HPC and AI workloads

Speaking on the workforce reduction on X, Blockspace commented, “One source described the layoffs as ‘ongoing,’ and Blockspace confirmed that the layoffs have been piecemeal, with a round occurring on Wednesday and another on Thursday.”

The publication also mentioned that the layoffs come soon after the firm’s significant Bitcoin sale, which Fred Thiel, CEO of Mara Holdings, recently described as a strategic move to shore up the company’s balance sheet and support long-term shareholder value. The executive explained that the move would increase the company’s financial flexibility and help it diversify beyond Bitcoin mining. 

After the 2024 halving, mining has become less profitable. Currently, network difficulty stands at 133.79 trillion with block rewards at only 3.14 BTC and block fees at 0.56%.

Like many other mining companies, MARA intends to evolve into the high-demand world of enterprise AI. The firm is already planning to pursue more Bitcoin sales through 2026 to meet liquidity needs and finance the new projects.

Additionally, it just revealed plans to expand its renewable energy capacity to manage costs and power its AI facilities. So far, it has collaborated with solar and wind energy suppliers. The firm has also partnered with Starwood Capital Group to upgrade its mining facilities into next-gen data centers designed for AI and HPC workloads. Per their agreement, Starwood Digital Ventures will oversee construction, design, tenant management, and daily operations, while MARA provides land and power for the projects.

Overall, the joint initiative is also set to provide roughly 1 gigawatt of immediate IT capacity, with plans to scale beyond 2.5 gigawatts. Nonetheless, MARA still keeps the option to own 50% of the venture, sharing expenses and future earnings with its partner.

Speaking on their partnership, Thiel asserted, “Bitcoin miners have energy available today … It’s an easy pivot. The key is being able to do it with the right partner, and choosing Starwood for us reduces a huge amount of risk. […] Our partnership with Starwood will allow us to turn power certainty into capacity certainty,” said Thiel. 

Huh noted MARA’s earnings will be highly dependent on future AI development

Ram Kumar, core contributor at AI and blockchain infrastructure firm OpenLedger, noted that working with Starwood would be strategically valuable, helping MARA transition from hashrate and bitcoin price dependency toward monetizing computing power.

He added, “That said, until there are signed hyperscale/enterprise leases with disclosed economics, MARA will still trade primarily as a Bitcoin price proxy, because mining remains the cleanest, most observable driver of near-term cash flows, while data center conversion is execution-heavy and timeline-dependent.” 

Siwon Huh, a researcher at crypto analytics firm Four Pillars, however, argued that while MARA’s shift to AI could boost profits, the outcome still depends on future AI spending trends. 

“The lack of immediate AI revenue suggests that the short-term impact will be limited,” he said. Huh explained that discussing a fundamental change in earnings would be premature without tenant agreements in place, adding that a long-term hyperscale-tier lease could provide such a catalyst.