Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. has expanded its mining efforts by incorporating kaspa (KAS), a proof-of-work digital asset, into its portfolio. This strategic move has already proven fruitful, with the company successfully mining 93 million KAS, which is valued at approximately $15 million as of June 25, 2024.
Marathon Digital’s foray into kaspa mining signifies a strategic shift towards diversifying its digital assets beyond bitcoin (BTC). Kaspa is renowned for its rapid processing capabilities, thanks to its Blockdag system that processes one block per second, in contrast to Bitcoin’s slower, linear blockchain.
Marathon’s entry into kaspa mining commenced in May 2023, utilizing its existing infrastructure and expertise in digital asset computing. This move aligns with the broader trend in the crypto industry, where miners are seeking to diversify their asset allocations. Additionally, bitcoin miners like Marathon have also shown interest in artificial intelligence (AI) compute processing.
Adam Swick, Marathon’s chief growth officer, highlighted the significance of mining kaspa, stating, “By mining kaspa, we are able to generate revenue that is diversified from bitcoin, while leveraging our core competencies in digital asset compute.” Swick further emphasized Marathon’s advantage in this venture, thanks to their established infrastructure, strong relationships with hardware manufacturers, robust balance sheet, and competent team.
In their latest announcement in September 2023, Marathon revealed that they had deployed their first Kaspa application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and commenced scaling their operations. With investments in approximately 60 petahash of KS3, KS5, and KS5 Pro ASICs, the company expects to benefit from high profit margins due to the current network difficulty and the price of kaspa. Presently, 30 petahash of Marathon’s Kaspa ASICs are operational in Texas, with plans to activate the remaining units by Q3 2024.
What are your thoughts on Marathon’s entry into kaspa mining? Feel free to share your opinions and perspectives on this matter in the comments section below.
