Marathon Digital Holdings, a prominent Bitcoin mining company, has announced that it has started mining the cryptocurrency Kaspa (KAS). This diversification move has had a positive impact on the KAS price, which has surged by 12% in the last 24 hours, reaching $0.1794.

The institutional exposure to Kaspa resulting from Marathon's involvement could lead to increased legitimacy and interest in the cryptocurrency from the broader financial sector. Companies like BlackRock and Vanguard, major shareholders of Marathon Digital, may now indirectly hold Kaspa through their investments in the mining company.

Marathon Digital has already mined approximately 93 million Kaspa, valued at around $15 million. The company has purchased about 60 petahash of KS3, KS5, and KS5 Pro ASIC miners, with 30 petahash currently operational in their Texas facilities. The remaining capacity is expected to be fully energized by Q3 2024.

Marathon's Chief Growth Officer emphasized that mining Kaspa allows the company to create a revenue stream diversified from Bitcoin while leveraging their core competencies in digital asset computation. The company estimates that their Kaspa mining operations can generate profits with margins of up to 95% under current network conditions.

Marathon's decision to mine Kaspa could encourage other publicly traded mining companies to explore similar diversification strategies, potentially leading to increased adoption and development of emerging cryptocurrencies.