Bitcoin News: VanEck Exec Debunks MARA BTC Buy Speculation as Miner Pivots to AI
Highlights
- VanEck executive Matthew Sigel described the speculation that MARA bought more BTC as false.
- He said that the recent transaction was the return of lent coins.
- Sigel said that accumulating Bitcoin is the last thing on MARA's mind.
VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets Research, Matthew Sigel, has debunked speculations that Bitcoin miner MARA bought more BTC. He also alluded to the fact that the miner is unlikely to focus on buying more BTC as it pivots to building its AI infrastructure.
VanEck Chief Says MARA Buying Bitcoin Is False
In an X post, the VanEck executive described the speculation that MARA bought more Bitcoin as false. He made this statement in response to a post from the onchain analytics platform Lookonchain, which noted that the miner appeared to have bought 1,000 BTC through FalconX.
Lookonchain also mentioned that the transaction came on the back of MARA’s BTC sales in the first quarter of the year, when they sold 20,880 BTC for $1.5 billion at an average price of $70,137. CoinGape had reported this MARA’s Bitcoin sale, which came amid the miner’s pivot from large-scale crypto mining to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC).
Meanwhile, further commenting on MARA’s latest BTC transaction, Sigel stated that the coins in question are returned-lent coins rather than open-market purchases. He added that the miner will be monetizing its DC portfolio, with Starwood in the U.S. and Exaion in the E.U.
Notably, MARA has historically sent its BTC to a new wallet whenever it purchased more Bitcoin, which signaled that the latest transaction was unlikely to be a buy. As such, the miner likely closed out the BTC-backed loan, and they received their collateral back.
BTC Accumulation Not MARA’s Focus
The VanEck chief stated that Bitcoin accumulation is the last thing on MARA’s mind, with the miner focusing on its pivot to AI. Market expert Matt Allen also noted that the miner is no longer buying BTC the way the market thinks.
“The company is focused on its AI data center pivot,” he added. As CoinGape reported, MARA expanded its AI infrastructure with the announcement of its $1.5 billion Long Bridge acquisition in April.
Despite the pivot to AI, MARA remains one of the largest Bitcoin treasury firms. The miner is currently the fourth-largest treasury firm, with holdings above 35,000 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries data. The firm is behind Michael Saylor’s Strategy, Twenty-One Capital, and Metaplanet.
Meanwhile, amid its pivot to AI, MARA stock has been one of the top-performing crypto stocks this year, bucking the general downtrend among other crypto stocks. The stock is up over 62% year-to-date (YTD). The stock is also up over 18% in the last five days, according to TradingView data.
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