Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings (MARA) recently announced a partnership with renowned private equity firm Starwood Capital Group to jointly convert some of the company’s existing sites into infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence applications and cloud services. Boosted by this news, MARA’s stock surged nearly 15% in after-hours trading on Thursday.
According to the cooperation plan, Starwood Digital Ventures, the data center development platform under Starwood Capital, will lead the project’s design, tenant recruitment, construction, and facility operations, while MARA will be responsible for providing some of the sites. The companies stated in a release that they expect to deliver approximately 1 gigawatt of capacity immediately, with the potential to expand to 2.5 gigawatts. All related projects will be jointly owned by both parties, prioritizing sites with more advantageous energy costs and scalable interconnection conditions. Financial terms of this cooperation have not been disclosed yet.
Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital, expressed in an interview that they are looking forward to the collaboration with MARA and emphasized that the project’s rapid execution capability and geographical location are key considerations. He also pointed out that Starwood’s credibility in the capital markets will help MARA achieve its development goals. Fred Thiel, CEO of MARA, revealed that the company has the right to retain up to 50% ownership in this joint venture and will share development costs and profits with its partner.
The announcement of this partnership coincided with MARA releasing its fourth-quarter earnings report. The report showed the company posted a quarterly loss of $1.7 billion, which included a $1.5 billion unrealized loss from marking down the value of its Bitcoin holdings. As the corporate entity with the second-largest Bitcoin holdings, MARA’s fourth-quarter revenue also fell 6% year-over-year to $202 million.
Market analysts view this strategic shift positively. Brian Dobson, Managing Director at Clear Street, believes this deal strengthens the feasibility of Bitcoin miners transitioning to high-performance computing data centers, noting that their access to power and relevant experience instill confidence in investors.
In fact, Bitcoin miners are increasingly becoming important potential suppliers in the AI data center sector. The cheap and readily available energy they possess, along with sites suitable for conversion, allows them to shorten construction timelines and quickly enter the market. Although MARA had announced related plans last year, the capital market seems to favor peers who have fully committed to the AI transition. Over the past year, stocks of companies like IREN, TeraWulf, and Cipher Digital have risen significantly, with their market valuations even surpassing that of MARA, which currently leads in mining computing power.
