Use $BTC as collateral to borrow $750M to bet on AI
MARA Holdings pledged 18,750 BTC (~$1.2B) to borrow $750M from Coinbase & Two Prime Lending. Repayment deadline is August 2028.
The borrowed funds are being poured into acquiring Long Ridge, a 2-gigawatt power company in Ohio, to develop AI infrastructure as well as BTC mining.
Using BTC as collateral instead of selling is theoretically pretty smart, preserving the upside if BTC rises. But for a company that's losing nearly $2B in 6 months, having just sold 91% of the BTC mined in Q2, now using more than half of the remaining BTC to take on debt. Doesn't the risk lie in what happens if BTC drops back to $55-58K?
In that case, MARA would have to add more assets to maintain the collateral ratio. If it can't meet that, the lenders have the right to liquidate the entire 18,750 BTC. This scenario is entirely possible since $58K was the bottom that BTC hit in early July.
Looks like this bet on AI & energy is a pretty big gamble, huh.
NFA. DYOR.
MARA Holdings pledged 18,750 BTC (~$1.2B) to borrow $750M from Coinbase & Two Prime Lending. Repayment deadline is August 2028.
The borrowed funds are being poured into acquiring Long Ridge, a 2-gigawatt power company in Ohio, to develop AI infrastructure as well as BTC mining.
Using BTC as collateral instead of selling is theoretically pretty smart, preserving the upside if BTC rises. But for a company that's losing nearly $2B in 6 months, having just sold 91% of the BTC mined in Q2, now using more than half of the remaining BTC to take on debt. Doesn't the risk lie in what happens if BTC drops back to $55-58K?
In that case, MARA would have to add more assets to maintain the collateral ratio. If it can't meet that, the lenders have the right to liquidate the entire 18,750 BTC. This scenario is entirely possible since $58K was the bottom that BTC hit in early July.
Looks like this bet on AI & energy is a pretty big gamble, huh.
NFA. DYOR.