VanEck’s Matthew Sigel pushed back on claims that Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings bought 1,000 BTC, saying the transfer looked like returned collateral from a BTC-backed loan — not a fresh market purchase.
On June 16, VanEck’s head of digital assets research responded to an on-chain alert from Lookonchain that flagged a 1,000 BTC movement involving FalconX and suggested MARA was adding to its treasury. Sigel argued the coins were “returned-lent” assets, pointing out that MARA has been moving away from net BTC accumulation as it shifts capital toward AI and data-center investments. “MARA will be monetizing its DC portfolio: Starwood in the US, Exaion in the EU. Bitcoin accumulation is the last thing on their mind,” he wrote.
Several on-chain clues back that view. MARA typically deposits new purchases into newly created wallets; this transfer did not match that pattern. Market participants therefore suspect the company closed out a BTC-backed loan and simply received collateral back, rather than buying on the open market.
The debate comes amid a broader strategic pivot at MARA. Earlier this year the miner sold 20,880 BTC (about $1.5 billion) in Q1 at an average price near $70,137 per coin, and completed a $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Bridge to expand its AI and data-center footprint. Still, MARA remains one of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders, with more than 36,000 BTC on its balance sheet, according to Bitcoin Treasuries.
Investors have rewarded the repositioning: MARA shares are up more than 63% year-to-date and have climbed over 10% in the past five trading sessions (Yahoo Finance). Analysts such as Matt Allen have noted the company is no longer accumulating Bitcoin in the conventional way many expect, instead prioritizing development of AI data centers and high-performance computing.
MARA’s shift mirrors a wider industry trend. Mining firms are increasingly leveraging power contracts and data-center capacity to build AI or HPC businesses and diversify revenue away from pure crypto production. Recent examples include IREN’s acquisition of Spain’s Nostrum Group — adding roughly 490 MW of grid-connected power and an entry into Europe’s AI cloud market — and large-scale capital flows into AI infrastructure, such as Nvidia’s planned bond offering of at least $20 billion to fund AI investments.
Other miners, including HIVE Digital, TeraWulf, Hut 8 and CleanSpark, have also been repurposing facilities to support AI and HPC workloads, signaling that access to power and data-center capacity is becoming as valuable as hashing capacity itself.
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