Marathon, a global leader in bitcoin mining, aims for international expansion.
Significant growth in the past year
Marathon, the largest bitcoin mining company in the world, recently announced its plans for international expansion through joint ventures. The company currently exhibits a computing power (hash rate) of 19.2 EH/s, the highest rate among publicly-listed mining companies, and holds a total of 13,396 bitcoin, with an estimated value of 474 million dollars.
In just one year, Marathon has recorded a 467% increase in bitcoin production, moving from 7 EH/s to 19.2 EH/s. This remarkable growth has allowed the company to increase its output from 416 bitcoin in the third quarter of 2022 to 3,490 BTC in the third quarter of 2023. Despite high costs and infrastructure delays in the United States, Marathon plans to further increase its reach by 30% in 2024, with the development of new facilities in Abu Dhabi and Paraguay.
Toward achieving goals and expanding abroad
According to the MinerMetrics report, Marathon is on track to meet its objective of 23 EH/s, thanks to the start-up of its facility in Garden City, Texas. However, the facility’s operation has been delayed since July. The report also highlights how Marathon is banking on international joint ventures to reduce long-term production costs.
Marathon’s decision to expand beyond national borders is fueled by high costs and obstacles encountered with US facilities. Even though it has reduced the cost of its facility, Marathon remains relatively expensive compared to its competitors. Moreover, following the Bitcoin’s halving, Marathon’s profit margins could decrease if bitcoin prices should fall below 30,000 dollars.
The competitive environment of bitcoin mining
The company finds itself having to face increasingly fierce competition in the bitcoin mining sector. Currently, the daily average hash rate on the Bitcoin network is 428 EH/s, close to its historical peak, thus increasing pressure on miners. In parallel, the difficulty of mining, expressed in terms of “work” necessary to operate on the network, has reached a record level of 64.6T: this means that today finding a block is 64.6 trillion times more difficult than in the genesis block.
