MARA Holdings, a prominent player in the Bitcoin mining industry, is positioning itself to harness what it calls the “second wave” of artificial intelligence (AI) following a successful fourth quarter of 2024. In its latest financial report, the firm announced plans to establish itself as a foundational infrastructure provider for AI and high-performance computing, analogous to the role Cisco played during the internet boom.
Instead of hastily entering the AI market like many competitors, MARA took a measured approach, taking a “strategic pause” to evaluate the initial phase of AI development, which heavily relied on data centers for training expansive language models. The firm believes that the most significant prospects will arise from observing industry trends and positioning itself strategically for the next wave of AI advancements.
MARA is shifting its focus from AI training — the process by which models learn tasks — towards AI inferencing, in which models function independently to make decisions. This strategy aims to optimize the infrastructure necessary for inference capabilities, which MARA contends will closely resemble traditional cloud computing frameworks.
In financial terms, MARA achieved record revenues of $214.4 million in the fourth quarter, exceeding expectations by 16.5%. Additionally, net income reached $528.3 million, a staggering 248% increase from the previous year, and adjusted EBITDA rose to $794.4 million, reflecting a 207% year-on-year increase. The firm also bolstered its holdings with 18,146 additional Bitcoin , bringing its total reserve to 44,893 BTC by the end of 2024.
MARA’s success can be attributed to a substantial increase in its operational capacity, achieving a hashrate of 53.2 EH/s. This improvement was facilitated by a 300% boost in energy availability and the expansion of its mining operations across multiple facilities. Notably, the establishment of 25-megawatt micro data centers in Texas and North Dakota has helped reduce dependence on the grid.
The impressive financial performance and strategic operational enhancements have had a positive impact on MARA’s stock, with shares rising 5.9% in after-hours trading, although they have since adjusted slightly.
