Marathon Digital Holdings has announced that it has reached a definitive agreement with Applied Digital to acquire a Bitcoin mining facility in Texas for $87.3 million. The purchase will be made in cash from Marathon’s holdings, and the transaction will be finalized once all price adjustments are resolved.
With this acquisition, Marathon’s total Bitcoin mining capacity will reach approximately 1.1 gigawatts, just short of the 1.21 gigawatts needed to power the fictional “Flux Capacitor” from the Back to The Future movies. Fred Thiel, Marathon’s chairman and CEO, expressed his excitement about the agreement.
Marathon Digital had a successful year in 2023, with revenues reaching $387.5 million, a significant increase of 229% from the previous year and 452% for the fourth quarter. The surge in revenue was attributed to the Bitcoin rally towards the end of 2023 and a 147% rise in Bitcoin production year-over-year for Marathon Digital.
In February, Marathon introduced a new service called “Slipstream,” which allows for faster submission of large or non-standard Bitcoin transactions. This service aims to streamline and expedite transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Looking ahead, mining companies like Marathon Digital will need to navigate the upcoming Bitcoin halving. This event, expected to take place in mid-April, will result in a 50% reduction in mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block once a certain number of blocks have been mined on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Related: Stay updated with the latest news and comprehensive coverage of the Bitcoin halving by Cointelegraph.