MARA (MARA) Q4 FY25 earnings call: guidance and Q&A

Can you elaborate on the financing dynamics of MARA retaining up to a 50% stake in JV projects, and the technical requirements for load balancing between Bitcoin mining and HPC at these sites?

MARA's initial contribution to the JV for each site will be the asset itself, plus capital for its share of development costs for up to 50% ownership. Load balancing is achieved through advanced battery technology (e.g., TAE Batteries) that allows sub-millisecond switching, enabling Bitcoin mining to utilize excess power at preferential prices during lower hyperscale utilization, acting as a load balancer.

“The key thing regarding load balancing is a combination of technologies that we've developed by leveraging special battery technology. We've announced previously a partnership with TAE Batteries, which is a very advanced battery technology that can switch at sub-millisecond rates such that we are able to essentially balance load within data centers.”

asked by Paul Golding · answered by Frederick Thiel

Will the partnership benefit from revenue generated from Bitcoin mining during load balancing, or will that be retained by MARA?

Revenue generated from Bitcoin mining during load balancing will primarily be retained by MARA.

“Yes, it's primarily by MARA.”

asked by Paul Golding · answered by Frederick Thiel

Given Starwood's expertise and relationships, should we expect an accelerated timeline for signing deals with tenants compared to if MARA pursued this alone?

Yes, the partnership with Starwood significantly reduces the 'courtship period' with tenants due to Starwood's established relationships and trust with hyperscalers. This, combined with Starwood's captive EPC capabilities and MARA's existing power infrastructure, is expected to accelerate the process of evaluating sites, permitting, and securing leases.

“And having those relationships and the trust that exists because those relationships dramatically reduces, let's just say, the courtship period that a newcomer to the market like ourselves would have to do.”

asked by Reginald Smith · answered by Frederick Thiel

With the MPLX deal on the back burner, is MARA still in the market for already powered or approved sites, and how are these opportunities prioritized?

MARA is prioritizing opportunities that offer immediate power availability and rapid deployment for AI/HPC workloads, as hyperscalers need capacity today, not after 2030. The company is actively pursuing sites domestically and internationally, particularly with large energy majors in regions like the U.S., Latin America, and the Middle East, where sites can initially support Bitcoin mining and then convert to HPC/AI.

“What they desperately need now is power that's available today where they can quickly get a site permitted, build and deploy and be turned on in a short time as possible. So we're prioritizing the ability to deploy capital where we can most readily convert it into those types of opportunities.”

asked by Reginald Smith · answered by Frederick Thiel

What is the typical size of projects envisioned for the Starwood JV, and can you provide any back-of-the-envelope economics compared to current Bitcoin mining operations?

MARA is not looking at 40-50 MW sites but much bigger projects, citing a 200 MW site in Texas as an example that can be converted to hyperscaler use. The economics will vary by project, tenant, development costs, and lease rates, making it difficult to provide a general number today. More information will be available as specific sites and tenants are announced.

“But to your question on size and scaling, you could look at a site, for example, like 1 we have in Texas, which currently operates over 200 megawatts of capacity, and that site can be converted directly to a hyperscaler site. So are we looking at doing 40- and 50-megawatt sites? No, we're looking at doing much bigger things.”

asked by Christopher Brendler · answered by Frederick Thiel

Could you explain how MARA intends to leverage the Exaion acquisition, especially given its focus on private cloud and sovereign data?

Exaion, originally developed by EDF, provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service technology for highly secure private and sovereign cloud operations, particularly for inference loads where data security is paramount. MARA's 64% stake allows it to leverage Exaion's tech stack and expertise to deploy sophisticated private cloud solutions globally, addressing geopolitical needs where countries prefer not to use U.S. hyperscalers for sensitive data. This differentiates MARA by offering high-value, sticky infrastructure for vertical AI solutions.

“Our investment in Exaion is specifically targeted at 2 things: one, getting the technology platform so that we can deploy highly sophisticated private cloud with full security and data integrity globally in data centers for enterprise customers as well as within France and across Europe, provide private cloud infrastructure and services to leading enterprises where they would prefer not to make that data available to hyperscalers who are subject to the U.S. CLOUD Act.”

asked by Kevin Dede · answered by Frederick Thiel