Bitcoin mining company MARA cuts 15% of workforce after selling $1.1 billion in Bitcoin

Publicly traded Bitcoin mining company MARA has cut its workforce by 15% shortly after selling $1.1 billion worth of top cryptocurrency assets, the company confirmed to… Decryption After the initial Report from Blockbase Media.

Citing sources close to the matter, the publication reported that the cuts affect full-time employees across departments, and may also affect contractors at the company.

A MARA spokesperson said: “MARA remains focused on executing our strategic evolution from a pure Bitcoin mining company into an energy and digital infrastructure company.” Decryption.

They added: “As our company evolves, so must our operations and where we focus our resources. With this in mind, and as part of our broader growth strategy, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to reduce our team by approximately 15%.”

According to an internal memo I reviewed Block areaFred Thiel, the company’s CEO, noted that the decision was “not purely a financial decision — it was a strategic decision.”

“As we share our recent announcements with Starwood and Exaion, we are focusing the company in a new direction,” he said. “This means that the shape of our team needs to change with it.”

Thiel’s reported comments point to the company’s strategic pivot into AI data centers and enabling AI computing, noting Recent partnership with Data Center Development Platform From Starwood Digital Ventures and its partners Investing in Axiona company that develops and operates data centers in Europe.

MARA, like other Bitcoin miners, has made a strategic shift to support artificial intelligence and more high-performance computing needs, expanding its focus beyond the best crypto assets. Recently, the company announced Nearly 15,000 bitcoins, or more than $1.1 billion, were sold Its value, allowing it to buy back convertible debt and strengthen its finances.

This sale came after… It agreed to a strategic decision that would allow it to sell Bitcoin off its balance sheetand not just BTC it mined in operations.

It’s not the only Bitcoin miner to offload its core reserve assets. Riot pads for rival miners It sold about $250 million worth of BTC During Q1, after Net approximately $200 million in proceeds of sales in Q4. In addition, earlier this year, Kangoo parted with more than $300 million In BTC because it also focuses on artificial intelligence.

MARA shares ended Thursday up more than 8%, trading at $8.71. Shares have fallen more than 53% in the past six months, with Bitcoin falling nearly 47% from its all-time high of $126,080 to trade at about $67,000.

MARA isn’t the only cryptocurrency company to cut its staff in recent months, most notably with Jack Dorsey’s Bitcoin-allied company Block. – More than 4,000 jobs were eliminated In February. Other companies in this space that have made recent cuts include: twin, crypto.comthe Algorand Foundationand OP Laboratories. In some cases, including Block and Gemini, companies have cited increased reliance on AI tools to compensate for fewer employees.