Publicly traded Bitcoin miner MARA has cut its workforce by 15% amid its strategic pivot to become an energy and digital infrastructure company focused on AI. The layoffs, described by leadership as strategic rather than purely financial, follow the firm’s recent sale of $1.1 billion worth of Bitcoin from its balance sheet. MARA shares rose over 8% Thursday but remain down more than 53% over the last six months.
Publicly traded Bitcoin miner MARA has cut its workforce by 15%. The confirmation followed an initial reported by Blockspace Media.
The cuts impact full-time employees across departments and may also affect contractors. “MARA remains focused on executing our strategic evolution from a pure-play Bitcoin miner into an energy and digital infrastructure company,” a company spokesperson stated.
“As our company evolves, so too must our operations and where we focus our resources,” the spokesperson added. An internal memo indicated the decision was not “purely a financial decision—it’s a strategic one.”
CEO Fred Thiel noted the company is “focusing the company in a new direction.” This shift involves strategic moves into AI data centers and high-performance computing.
Thiel’s comments referenced its recent partnership with Starwood Digital Ventures and an investment in Exaion. The layoffs follow MARA’s sale of approximately 15,000 BTC for over $1.1 billion.
That sale was enabled by a prior strategic decision to sell Bitcoin from its balance sheet. Other miners, including Riot Platforms and Cango, have also sold hundreds of millions in BTC this year.
Shares in MARA finished recently up more than 8%, trading at $8.71. However, shares are down over 53% in the last six months as Bitcoin trades around $67,000.
MARA joins other crypto firms that have conducted recent layoffs. These include Block, Gemini, Crypto.com, the Algorand Foundation, and OP Labs.
