MARA Pledges 18,750 BTC as Collateral for $600M in New Debt
MARA Holdings pledged 18,750 BTC worth approximately $1.2 billion as collateral for $600 million in new debt from Coinbase Credit and Two Prime Lending, using its Bitcoin treasury to finance a $1.5 billion Ohio power plant acquisition and potential AI campus.
Bitcoin-backed credit is maturing into a real capital markets instrument, and MARA just put 53% of its stack on the line to prove it.
Key takeaways
- MARA Holdings pledged 18,750 BTC (worth ~$1.2 billion at closing) as collateral for $600 million in new debt from Coinbase Credit and Two Prime Lending at a 7.56% weighted average rate, according to the company's Q2 2026 SEC filings.
- The proceeds fund part of MARA's $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power, a 505 MW Ohio gas plant MARA plans to convert into a Bitcoin mining and AI compute campus.
- MARA has not disclosed the collateral maintenance ratio, meaning the BTC price that would trigger a forced lender liquidation of the pledged pool is unknown to the public.
MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) closed two Bitcoin-backed credit facilities on Aug. 4, pledging 18,750 BTC valued at approximately $1.2 billion to raise $600 million in new borrowing, per the company's Q2 2026 Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on Aug. 6. The deal was first reported by The Energy Mag. The transaction is the largest public demonstration yet that Bitcoin functions as institutional-grade collateral for hard infrastructure financing.
The Structure of the Deal
Coinbase Credit supplied a $450 million facility ($300 million in new money plus a refinancing of an existing $150 million credit line originally maturing Q1 2027, now extended to Aug. 4, 2028). Two Prime Lending provided a separate $300 million loan. Both facilities are fully drawn.
The Coinbase facility carries a floating rate equal to the midpoint of the Federal Reserve's target range plus 3.875 percentage points, currently 7.5% with the Fed funds range at 3.5%, 3.75% as maintained on July 29. Two Prime's loan carries a fixed rate of 7.65%, maturing Aug. 3, 2028. The weighted average cost across the $600 million in incremental borrowing: 7.56%, per the Q2 2026 shareholder letter and 8-K. At current principal, estimated annual interest runs in the range of approximately $56.7 million, though the actual figure will vary with rate movements on the floating Coinbase tranche.
The 18,750 BTC pledged were worth roughly 1.6 times the $750 million combined facility principal at closing. Before these facilities, MARA had 4,528 BTC pledged as collateral. The new pledge represents roughly 53% of the 35,577 BTC MARA held as of June 30.
The collateral math carries a critical blind spot. MARA must maintain required collateral levels, and failure to meet a margin call allows lenders to liquidate the pledged coins. The specific maintenance ratio and the BTC price that would trigger liquidation are not disclosed in the public filing.
Bitcoin as Infrastructure Capital
The proceeds go toward general corporate purposes, specifically the cash consideration for MARA's pending acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power LLC from FTAI Infrastructure Inc., announced in April. Long Ridge owns a 505 MW nameplate combined-cycle gas plant in Hannibal, Ohio, with more than 1,600 contiguous acres. Enterprise value: approximately $1.5 billion, including assumed debt. The FTC granted early termination of the antitrust waiting period on June 16, 2026. As of the 10-Q filing date, the acquisition had not yet closed.
MARA's plan for the site: power generation, Bitcoin mining, and a potential AI and high-performance-computing campus. The company also disclosed rights to a 2 GW powered land site in Matagorda County, Texas, per the 8-K. Total potential power portfolio could reach 4.8 GW.
MARA used its Bitcoin treasury to finance energy and compute infrastructure rather than diluting equity. Coinbase Credit and Two Prime are pricing BTC-backed paper at 7.5%, 7.65% for a company with a $1.2 billion collateral pool. That is tighter than many junk-rated corporate bonds, for a miner-turned-energy-operator using its Bitcoin stack the way a balance-sheet-heavy company uses hard assets.
Miners are moving from pure hash-rate operations into vertically integrated power and compute platforms. Bitdeer locked up $4.7 billion in Norwegian capacity. MARA is now using Bitcoin as the collateral base to buy the power assets directly. The question is whether the largest miners become AI compute infrastructure companies first and Bitcoin accumulators second, and what that does to hash rate distribution over time.
The Debt Underneath
MARA's financial picture demands context. Q2 2026 revenue came in at $174.9 million, down 27% year-over-year. Net loss was $611.3 million, which includes $342.7 million in fair-value losses on BTC holdings (mark-to-market, not cash out the door).
MARA sold 23,093 BTC for approximately $1.6 billion in the first half of 2026, reducing holdings from 53,822 at year-end 2025 to 35,577 at June 30. In Q2 alone, MARA sold 2,213 BTC against 2,422 mined, liquidating roughly 91% of its quarterly production. Cash on hand: $421.3 million. Total debt: approximately $2.4 billion.
Of the 35,577 BTC held at June 30, 4,742 were already out on loan and 4,528 were already pledged. Add the 18,750 newly pledged and roughly 66% of that June 30 stack is now encumbered in some form, with a liquidation-trigger price the company has declined to quantify publicly. That is aggressive energy speculation financed by Bitcoin margin.
The thesis holds if BTC price stays above whatever undisclosed floor the lenders set and Long Ridge throws off enough cash to service the estimated annual interest while the site is built out. The thesis breaks publicly and loudly if a price drop triggers a margin call MARA cannot meet in cash, forcing lender liquidation of the pledged pool. Fourteen months to maturity on both facilities.
What to Watch
The Long Ridge closing date is the next hard catalyst. Once the acquisition closes, watch for MARA's disclosure of the actual collateral maintenance ratio (it may surface in subsequent filings or investor calls) and whether Q3 mining proceeds cover interest expense without further BTC sales. The broader signal to track: whether other public miners follow with BTC-collateralized infrastructure acquisitions, and at what rates, which will determine whether 7.5%, 7.65% becomes the floor or the ceiling for Bitcoin-backed institutional credit.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
Both facilities include standard margin-call provisions. If BTC falls below required collateral levels, MARA must pledge additional coins or face lender liquidation of the pledged pool. The specific maintenance ratio and the exact BTC price that triggers a liquidation event have not been publicly disclosed in the SEC filings.
Not as of the 10-Q filed Aug. 6, 2026. The deal cleared FTC antitrust review (early termination granted June 16, 2026) but remained subject to customary closing conditions. MARA describes the new credit facilities as partly intended to fund the closing cash consideration.
MARA frames BTC-collateralized borrowing as non-dilutive. It does not issue new shares and retains the BTC on the balance sheet, preserving upside exposure if price rises. The tradeoff is an estimated approximately $56.7 million in annual interest expense at current principal and rates, and forced-liquidation risk at an undisclosed price floor, neither of which exists when selling Bitcoin outright.
