MARA Sells 15,000 Bitcoins and Cuts 15% of Its Workforce: Behind the AI Pivot, Mining Companies’ Business Models Are Being Rewritten

Gate News update. In 2026, Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings announced layoffs of about 15% and sold more than 15,000 bitcoins, raising roughly $1.1 billion, to fund the repurchase of convertible notes and support a business transformation. The company’s CEO, Fred Thiel, said this move is a “strategic adjustment,” signaling that the company’s focus is shifting from a single mining business to the fields of artificial intelligence and energy infrastructure.

The layoffs involved about 40 employees, a significant share of the company’s total headcount. Affected employees will receive a one-month paid transition period and about 13 weeks of severance pay. At the same time, MARA sold 15,133 bitcoins in stages from early to late March. It repurchased convertible notes due in 2030 and 2031 at an average discount, reducing the outstanding debt from $3.3 billion to $2.3 billion, a decrease of about 30%.

The asset mix also changed in parallel. The company’s bitcoin holdings fell from about 53,822 to 38,689, a reduction of 28%. Management has made clear that in 2026 it may still “sell bitcoins in stages” to meet operating expenses and new business investment needs. This strategy means mining firms are starting to actively manage their balance sheets rather than simply holding coins and waiting for prices to rise.

Behind the transformation is pressure on the industry’s profit model. After the Bitcoin halving, mining revenues have continued to shrink, and alongside an estimated net loss of about $1.3 billion in 2025, companies have been pushed to find new paths for growth. Currently, MARA operates 18 data centers worldwide, with total compute capacity and power capacity of about 1.9 gigawatts, and it is gradually expanding into areas such as AI compute and high-performance computing (HPC).

This move reflects that the business logic of mining companies is being reshaped: shifting from relying on Bitcoin price volatility to becoming a diversified provider of compute capacity and energy infrastructure. For the market, mining firms reducing their bitcoin holdings could also affect the short-term supply-demand structure.