--- title: "MARA Sells 13,597 Bitcoin to Clear $750 Million Debt and Authorizes $500M Buyback" description: "The miner raised roughly $1.1 billion by liquidating BTC after Sept. 30, paying off collateralized loans as it redirects capital toward AI data center expansion." url: https://basisdesk.news/news/mara-holdings-clears-debt-bitcoin-sale-approves-share-buyback published: 2026-11-10T11:26:33.436Z modified: 2026-11-10T11:26:33.436Z section: Mining & Infrastructure author: Basis Desk Newsroom (AI-generated, source-verified) sentiment: neutral tickers: [BTC] tags: [MARA Holdings, bitcoin mining, treasury management, debt repayment, share buyback, data centers, artificial intelligence] license: Quote with attribution to Basis Desk (basisdesk.news). Not financial advice. --- # MARA Sells 13,597 Bitcoin to Clear $750 Million Debt and Authorizes $500M Buyback The miner raised roughly $1.1 billion by liquidating BTC after Sept. 30, paying off collateralized loans as it redirects capital toward AI data center expansion. ## At a glance - **What happened:** MARA Holdings sold 13,597 BTC to raise $1.1 billion, repay $750 million in collateralized debt, and approve a $500 million share buyback. - **Why it matters:** The debt retirement de-leverages MARA's balance sheet while redirecting digital asset capital into energy infrastructure and artificial intelligence computing capacity. - **Who is affected:** MARA Holdings equity investors, convertible noteholders, and enterprise AI data center tenants. - **What's next:** Closing of the Long Ridge 485-megawatt power facility acquisition in the coming weeks and execution of pending AI tenant leases. - **Primary source:** [Bitcoin Miner MARA Clears Its BTC-Backed Debt and Approves $500 Million Buyback After Q3 Profit](https://unchainedcrypto.com/bitcoin-miner-mara-clears-its-btc-backed-debt-and-approves-500-million-buyback-after-q3-profit/) — unchainedcrypto.com ## Key points - MARA's board authorized a $500 million share buyback on Nov. 9 following the post-Q3 sale of 13,597 BTC for roughly $1.1 billion. - The sale fully retired $750 million in collateralized debt, leaving MARA with approximately $350 million in surplus cash from the liquidation. - Q3 net income reached $632.1 million via an $885.3 million digital asset paper gain, offsetting a 35% decline in mining operational revenue. ## Editorial remark - **Context:** MARA had accumulated $750 million in debt against its bitcoin reserve to finance power generation infrastructure, including the Long Ridge natural gas facility, while navigating declining mining margins over 2026. - **Impact:** MARA strengthens its unencumbered balance sheet by fully retiring bitcoin-collateralized borrowing, pivoting treasury liquidity toward high-performance computing leases and upcoming convertible debt obligations. - **Watch:** The closing of the Long Ridge power plant acquisition in the coming weeks and formal announcements regarding two pending AI/HPC data center tenant leases. MARA Holdings announced on Nov. 9 that its board authorized a common stock buyback program of up to $500 million after liquidating 13,597 $BTC to pay down credit obligations [1]. The bitcoin mining firm disclosed in its quarterly report that the post-quarter sales raised roughly $1.1 billion at an average price of $81,039 per coin, enabling it to fully extinguish $750 million in bitcoin-collateralized borrowing [1]. The loans repaid consisted of $600 million in new debt and $150 million used to refinance a Coinbase credit facility, leaving the company with approximately $350 million in remaining proceeds [1]. As detailed in an earlier [MARA Holdings Form 8-K disclosure](https://basisdesk.news/news/mara-holdings-files-form-8k-q3-results), the firm closed Sept. 30 with $958.5 million in total cash, including $12 million in restricted reserves [1]. MARA reported third-quarter net income of $632.1 million, compared to $123.1 million in the third quarter of 2025, driven by an $885.3 million unrealized gain on its digital asset portfolio [1]. Despite the swing to quarterly profitability after three consecutive quarters of losses, the company recorded a net loss of $1.24 billion across the first nine months of 2026 [1]. Operational revenue contracted 35% year over year to $164.2 million from $252.4 million, dampened by a 37% drop in the average market value of mined tokens that removed $94.8 million from top-line revenue [1]. That decline was marginally mitigated by an increase in quarterly mining output, which rose to 2,247 BTC from 2,144 BTC a year earlier [1]. Prior to the debt discharge, MARA had already reduced total obligations by $1.4 billion between January and Sept. 30, including a transaction earlier this year where it liquidated 15,133 BTC to retire $1 billion in convertible notes [1]. ## Pivoting Balance Sheets to Power and Compute The miner indicated it plans to keep using its bitcoin holdings to accumulate cash reserves for artificial intelligence infrastructure, pending convertible note put options maturing next year, and future share repurchases [1]. The debt settlement follows the Nov. 4 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval of MARA's purchase of Long Ridge, a 485-megawatt natural gas power station in Ohio [1]. The transaction is projected to close in the coming weeks, while target completion dates for two high-performance computing data center leases could slip into 2027 depending on fluid market conditions [1]. At the time of writing, $BTC traded at $74,131. ## Sources 1. [Bitcoin Miner MARA Clears Its BTC-Backed Debt and Approves $500 Million Buyback After Q3 Profit](https://unchainedcrypto.com/bitcoin-miner-mara-clears-its-btc-backed-debt-and-approves-500-million-buyback-after-q3-profit/) — unchainedcrypto.com, 2026-11-10 --- Basis Desk Newsroom · AI-generated, source-verified · https://basisdesk.news/about/how-we-use-ai