Marathon Digital Holdings has solidified its position as a formidable force in the Bitcoin mining realm with the acquisition of a 200-megawatt (MW) mining facility from Applied Digital. The $87.3 million deal, announced on March 15, secures Marathon's ownership of the Garden City, Texas-based plant, with completion scheduled for the second quarter of 2024.

The acquisition agreement allows for potential modifications that could increase the gross purchase price to $97.3 million. Applied Digital's CEO, Wes Cummins, hailed the transaction as a catalyst for bolstering the company's financial resources and laying a robust foundation for long-term expansion and operational excellence. Concurrently, it enables Applied Digital to strategically pivot towards constructing high-performance computing (HPC) data centers.

Bloomberg's reports indicate that Marathon Digital is gearing up for Bitcoin's highly anticipated halving event by actively seeking additional mining site acquisitions.

The acquired facility, erected in 2023, previously hosted Marathon as a client, underscoring the company's familiarity with the site's operations. Notably, Marathon will retain its hosting arrangement at Applied Digital's North Dakota data center, further cementing the companies' strategic partnership.

In tandem with this acquisition, Applied Digital has reiterated its commitment to augmenting its HPC capabilities. The company recently announced a collaboration with Together AI, which will leverage Applied Digital's Nvidia H100 graphics processing units (GPUs) for its operations, exemplifying the mining industry's diversification into the burgeoning generative AI landscape.

Marathon Digital's Bitcoin mining exploits have been nothing short of impressive. In late February, the company reported a self-mining hash rate of 28.7 exahashes per second (EH/s). With Bitcoin's next halving slated for April 20, when the block reward is expected to decrease from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, Marathon has strategically fortified its financial reserves. As of January 31, the company possessed over $1 billion in unrestricted cash and Bitcoin combined, positioning it to achieve a projected hash rate of 50 EH/s by the end of 2025.

Additionally, Marathon has made significant strides in expanding its mining capacity. In January, the company acquired two mining sites in Nebraska and Texas for approximately $179 million (390 MW). This latest acquisition of Applied Digital's Texas Bitcoin mining facility further cements Marathon's status as a major player in the dynamic digital asset mining industry.