MARA Adds $600M in Bitcoin-Backed Financing
MARA Holdings disclosed $600 million of incremental Bitcoin-backed borrowing from Coinbase and Two Prime, with 18,750 Bitcoin pledged as initial collateral on August 4. The company said the proceeds are for general corporate purposes, including part of the cash needed for its proposed Long Ridge acquisition; the filing also says a collateral shortfall could trigger margin calls and liquidation.
MARA Holdings has added $600 million of incremental Bitcoin-backed borrowing through facilities with Coinbase Credit and Two Prime Lending. An August 6 SEC filing says the facilities were fully drawn and initially secured by 18,750 Bitcoin, valued by the company at about $1.2 billion on their August 4 closing date.
How the financing is structured
The Coinbase facility provides $300 million of new funding and rolls MARA's existing $150 million Coinbase loan into a single $450 million commitment. Its interest rate is the midpoint of the federal funds target range plus 3.875%, and it matures on August 4, 2028, with an automatic one-year extension unless either party cancels it.
Two Prime supplied a separate $300 million fixed-term loan at 7.65%, maturing on August 3, 2028. MARA described the two facilities as $600 million of incremental borrowing because the refinanced $150 million was already outstanding.
The filing does disclose downside mechanics. MARA must maintain collateral ratios, post more collateral after a margin call, or take other permitted action. Failure to restore the required ratio is an event of default that can allow the lender to liquidate pledged Bitcoin. The public filing does not state the numerical margin-call thresholds.
Bitcoin sales and the Long Ridge plan
During the six months ended June 30, MARA sold about 23,093 Bitcoin for $1.6 billion while mining 4,669 Bitcoin. It reported 35,577 Bitcoin on its balance sheet at quarter-end, including 26,307 classified as unrestricted. The 18,750 Bitcoin pledged on August 4 is equivalent to about 53% of that June 30 total, although the filing does not establish that MARA's holdings were unchanged between those dates.
MARA said the new proceeds can fund general corporate purposes, including part of the cash consideration for its proposed $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power. Long Ridge includes a 485-megawatt gas-fired power plant and is intended to support high-performance computing and AI infrastructure alongside Bitcoin mining.
The acquisition remains subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals. For investors and infrastructure operators, the key trade-off is straightforward: Bitcoin provides MARA with flexible collateral for a large AI-infrastructure expansion, but a drop in its value could require additional collateral or expose the pledged assets to liquidation before the acquisition produces its intended returns.
Key Points
- 1The two facilities add $600 million of new borrowing and refinance MARA's existing $150 million Coinbase loan.
- 2MARA pledged 18,750 Bitcoin as initial collateral; a collateral shortfall can trigger margin calls and lender liquidation rights.
- 3The proceeds may fund part of the proposed $1.5 billion Long Ridge acquisition, which remains subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Scoring Rationale
A material financing step for a power-backed AI infrastructure expansion with quantified collateral and downside mechanics, though the acquisition remains conditional and the event is partly a corporate-finance story.
Sources
Primary source and supporting public references used for this report.
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