MARA Holdings, a Bitcoin miner making a strategic shift toward AI, transferred 996 Bitcoin (BTC), worth about $81 million, to a wallet identified as belonging to Galaxy Digital, with no on-chain data indicating a sale.

Key takeaways:

• MARA transferred 996 BTC, valued at nearly $81.13 million, to a wallet labeled Galaxy Digital on October 8.

• Blockchain records do not confirm a sale, and the company has provided no public explanation.

• The miner’s reported Bitcoin treasury fell from 53,822 BTC in February to 35,577 BTC as of June 30.

Bitcoin transfer from MARA to Galaxy Digital

On-chain tracker Lookonchain flagged the transaction on Friday, citing data from Arkham Intelligence. The transfer involved 996,105 BTC, valued at around $81.13 million, sent from a wallet labeled MARA Miner to an address identified as Galaxy Digital.

The tokens had been moved the previous day, Thursday, October 8, several hours before Lookonchain’s post. The account wrote that MARA appeared to have “dumped” its Bitcoin.

Blockchain data do not establish whether Galaxy Digital sold the BTC on MARA’s behalf, simply took custody of it, or received it in an entirely different arrangement.

By Friday morning, MARA had still not commented publicly on the transaction. The amount transferred represents about 2.8% of the Bitcoin holdings the company reported at the end of June.

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Sigel and Lookonchain: a previous dispute

Lookonchain’s interpretation of MARA’s wallets has been disputed before. In June, the tracker suggested that the miner had bought 1,000 BTC through FalconX, a claim publicly rejected by Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research. According to Sigel, MARA had lent out the BTC and was merely getting it back.

This precedent matters: the latest transfer could fuel fears of selling pressure on the market, but Galaxy Digital also provides trading, asset management, and other services for institutional investors. MARA shares were up about 2% at $10 in premarket trading on Friday, while Bitcoin climbed back above $82,000 after a correction that triggered more than $1 billion in liquidations of leveraged positions.

MARA accelerates its pivot to AI

This year, MARA has been redirecting its capital toward energy and data centers. The group partnered with Starwood Capital Group in February and agreed to acquire Long Ridge Energy & Power, a gas-fired power plant and data center campus in Ohio with an expected capacity of 505 megawatts, for $1.5 billion. In August, the company borrowed $600 million from Coinbase Credit and Two Prime Lending, pledging 18,750 BTC as collateral, to partly finance the acquisition.

Alongside this capital deployment, its Bitcoin treasury has shrunk. Data from Bitcoin Treasuries show a balance of 35,577 BTC as of June 30, compared with 53,822 BTC on February 26. The company sold approximately 20,880 BTC for about $1.5 billion in the first quarter, including 15,133 BTC in March, to buy back convertible notes.

Coming up: OpenAI’s 719 AI mathematical proofs criticized: Was the Navier-Stokes puzzle compromised?