Bitcoin Miner Marathon Digital to Buy New Mining Sites for $179M as Reward Halving Nears

Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital (MARA) is digging into its hoard of cash to buy two sites from subsidiaries of lending firm Generate Capital in an acquisition that will reduce its mining costs before the reward for securing the blockchain is slashed by 50% next year.

The $178.6 million acquisition, which will add 390 megawatts of capacity, will be paid in cash, the company said Tuesday. Marathon said it expects the purchase to reduce the cost per coin mined by around 30%.

Bitcoin's [BTC] halving, expected in April 2024, is leading mining companies to reassess their operations to ensure they are prepared for the drop in rewards. One such way is by acquiring smaller firms to bring economies of scale to their activities. Earlier this month, Marathon said it had more than $800 million of cash and bitcoin to "capitalize on strategic opportunities, including industry consolidation" ahead of the halving.

Across the two sites, around 21% is vacant and available for expansion, 63% is occupied by bitcoin mining tenants and 16% is already occupied by Marathon.

Generate Capital acquired stakes in two mining sites from bankrupt miner Compute North for $5 million in November last year.

Marathon's Nasdaq-listed shares have gained about 13% to $22.44, one of the better performers among its mining peers. The bitcoin price has risen about 3.2% in the last 24 hours.

Read More: Bitcoin Halving Is Poised to Unleash Darwinism on Miners

UPDATE (Dec. 19, 16:20 UTC): Adds bitcoin reward halving, cost reductions to first paragraph.