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MARA CEO Fred Thiel says scarce electricity can produce far higher returns when directed to artificial intelligence than to bitcoin mining. The company still plans to mine bitcoin where low-cost or surplus energy makes the economics attractive.
Key Takeaways
- MARA’s Fred Thiel said that AI earns more per electron than bitcoin mining.
- MARA targets 1 GW near-term and 2.5 GW later, showing power assets now drive miner value.
- MARA will keep mining cheap energy as Hut 8’s $19.6B AI leases shape the industry’s next move.
MARA Rethinks Its Power Portfolio as AI Margins Outpace Bitcoin Mining
Power, not mining machines, is becoming the defining asset in the Bitcoin mining industry.
MARA CEO Fred Thiel said electricity used for artificial intelligence infrastructure can generate substantially better returns than the same power devoted to bitcoin mining. That gap is pushing miners to recast themselves as data center developers.
“You get a lot more money per electron if you’re doing it for AI than for bitcoin mining,” Thiel said in a July 23 interview with Natalie Brunell.
The shift reflects tougher mining economics. Bitcoin’s scheduled halvings reduce the reward paid for each block, while electricity remains the industry’s largest operating expense. Thiel said miners must control power directly or work closely with utilities to stay competitive.
MARA Builds Around Scarce Power
MARA began buying sites where it had previously hosted mining equipment in late 2023 and early 2024, often below replacement cost, Thiel said. By the end of 2024, it owned about 70% of the infrastructure supporting its operations.
The company then turned its focus to energy assets. MARA has partnered with Starwood on a platform targeting about 1 gigawatt of near-term computing capacity, with a path beyond 2.5 GW. It also agreed in July to acquire a Texas site with access to roughly 2 GW of power for digital infrastructure.
Still, Thiel rejected the idea that AI will replace mining across MARA’s portfolio.
“Bitcoin is a great way to optimize electrons, even in a data center-centric world,” he said. Mining remains useful in areas with free, stranded or unusually cheap energy because it can absorb power that might otherwise go unused.
Miners Race to Secure AI Revenue
MARA’s strategy mirrors a wider industry migration. TeraWulf signed a 20-year lease with Anthropic for a 401 MW Kentucky campus expected to generate about $19 billion in contracted revenue. CleanSpark secured a 20-year, $6.6 billion lease for its Sandersville, Georgia, site.
Hut 8 has fully contracted its 1 GW Beacon Point campus through two 15-year leases worth $19.6 billion during their base terms. IREN, meanwhile, raised its 2026 annualized AI Cloud revenue target above $4 billion after signing $2.8 billion of new contracts.
The comparison is not exact. AI facilities require more capital, complex cooling systems, and firm delivery schedules. They also face local opposition over electricity use, water, and noise.
Thiel said those concerns often stem from limited information. Yet his broader conclusion was blunt:
“At the heart of it, though, it’s an issue of energy and power.”
For miners with grid connections and developable land, bitcoin may increasingly become one use for electricity rather than the only one.
English (US) ·