Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings sold 13,597 Bitcoin for about $1.1 billion after the third quarter ended and used $750 million of the proceeds to repay all of its Bitcoin-backed loans in full.

The sale, disclosed in the company's third-quarter shareholder letter on 9 November, was made at an average price of about $81,039 per coin. It equals roughly 40 per cent of the 34,012 Bitcoin MARA held at the end of September.

Collateral freed as loans repaid

The $750 million repayment cleared two Bitcoin-collateralised term loans taken out in August from Coinbase Credit and Two Prime. The loans had funded MARA's purchase of Long Ridge Energy & Power, a natural gas power business in Ohio, and the company estimates the round trip produced a net benefit of about $170 million.

Repaying the loans released 17,477 Bitcoin that had been pledged as collateral. MARA said less than 5 per cent of its holdings are now loaned or pledged, down from about 57 per cent at the end of September.

Revenue falls but profit jumps

Third-quarter revenue fell 35 per cent to $164.2 million, from $252.4 million a year earlier, as the average price of the Bitcoin MARA mined dropped 37 per cent to $71,688. Net income reached $632.1 million, driven by an $885.3 million unrealised gain on its Bitcoin holdings.

MARA mined 2,247 Bitcoin during the quarter and sold a further 3,891 coins at an average of $75,300. Its board has also approved a share buyback of up to $500 million, and the company says it aims to sign two AI data centre leases before the end of the year as it pivots towards high-performance computing.

MARA shares closed at $6.64 on 9 November, up 4.57 per cent on the day.