Mara Holdings sells 13,597 BTC to repay collateralized loan

Mara Holdings just made one of the largest Bitcoin sales a public miner has ever reported. The company sold 13,597 BTC to pay off a bitcoin-backed loan.

After the sale, Mara holds about 20,415 Bitcoin. For a company long known as one of the industry’s biggest holders, that is a notable change in direction.

The numbers behind the sale

Mara sold the coins after September 30, 2026, at an average price of $81,039 per Bitcoin. The sale brought in approximately $1.1 billion.

Of that, $750 million went toward fully repaying the company’s bitcoin-collateralized term loans. Mara took out those loans in August 2026, when Bitcoin traded around $64,000.

Paying off the debt freed up 17,477 BTC that had been pledged as collateral.

The shift in Mara’s balance sheet is striking. As of September 30, 2026, the company held 34,012 BTC, and 57% of that stack was loaned out or pledged.

After the sale and repayment, pledged Bitcoin accounts for less than 5% of Mara’s holdings. Most of the coins it still owns are now unencumbered, meaning no lender has a claim on them.

The math lines up neatly. Subtract the 13,597 coins sold from the 34,012 held at quarter’s end, and you land on the roughly 20,415 BTC Mara reports today.

A miner selling more than it mines

Context helps here. Mara mined 2,247 BTC during the third quarter of 2026.

The post-quarter sale was about six times that figure. In other words, Mara offloaded roughly half a year’s worth of production in one go, and then some.

This was not a one-off. Mara has sold Bitcoin multiple times in 2026, pushing its total sales for the year past 40,000 BTC.

That marks a real departure from the company’s earlier posture. Mara changed its treasury policy in 2026 to allow sales of Bitcoin held on its balance sheet. Before that, the playbook leaned toward holding.

The pivot comes as the mining business gets tougher. Mara reported third-quarter revenue of $164.2 million, a 35% decline year over year.

Yet the company still posted net income of $632.1 million for the quarter.

The gap between those two numbers comes mainly from unrealized gains on Bitcoin. Mara’s coins rose in value on paper, and accounting rules flowed that increase into its income statement.

Buybacks, debt, and what comes next

Mara’s board also approved a $500 million share repurchase program.

The company has said it plans to monetize Bitcoin to address debt obligations and to fund AI infrastructure. Its stated capital needs include potential acquisitions in power and AI infrastructure.

The timing of the loan trade also stands out. Mara borrowed against its Bitcoin in August 2026, with the asset near $64,000, and sold coins at an average of $81,039 to repay that debt.

What this means for miners and investors

For Mara shareholders, the headline effect is a lighter balance sheet. The company traded a chunk of its Bitcoin exposure for the removal of its bitcoin-backed debt and far less encumbered collateral.

With pledged coins now under 5% of holdings, Mara has more control over when and whether it sells.

The tradeoff is less upside. A company holding about 20,415 BTC benefits less from a Bitcoin rally than one holding 34,012 BTC.

The $500 million buyback adds another layer. It signals the board is willing to use capital to support shareholders.

Also worth monitoring: whether Mara keeps selling at its 2026 pace. With more than 40,000 BTC sold this year and a stated intent to keep monetizing holdings, the company’s remaining stack may not stay at 20,415 for long.

Mara spent years as a symbol of the miner-as-Bitcoin-holder strategy. Its 2026 sales suggest the company now sees its coins as a resource to be spent, not just a trophy to be kept.