Marathon Digital Holdings Inc MARA aims to build the largest bitcoin mining operation in North America at one of the lowest energy costs, CEO Fred Thiel told Benzinga.
The more decentralized the Bitcoin BTC/USD network is, the more secure it is, Thiel said during an interview on Benzinga's YouTube show "PreMarket Prep."
Bitcoin will become more stable over time as it is adopted and used as a currency and settlement network, he said.
The CEO described the company as a long-term holder of Bitcoin and said the cryptocurrency is undervalued today.
Marathon Digital is aiming to be carbon neutral within its mining fleet over the next year-and-a-half, Thiel said.
Thiel On El Salvador News: Lawmakers in El Salvador recently voted in favor of a law classifying Bitcoin as legal tender, making the country the first nation to officially adopt the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin is the perfect type of currency for countries to use as a secondary currency for internal and external payments, Thiel told Benzinga.
As countries begin using Bitcoin as legal tender, millions of wallets will begin transacting Bitcoin, the CEO said.
Increased transactions on the blockchain increase demand for Bitcoin and drive the price higher, he said.
Related Link: A Look Into Marathon Digital's Price Over Earnings
Thiel On Bitcoin's Volatility: Marathon Digital's revenues are determined by the price of Bitcoin, Thiel said.
The Bitcoin that the company mines is the same as its competitors' Bitcoin, and so the way the market prices Bitcoin is very important to Marathon Digital, the CEO said.
It doesn't take a large amount of volume in one particular direction to create movement in the price of Bitcoin, he said.
Institutional investors know that fear and greed drive retail behavior, so they are able to easily influence the price action of Bitcoin by introducing volatility into the market by buying or selling large amounts of the cryptocurrency, Thiel said.
At the moment, the sellers are in Asia and the buyers are in the U.S. and Europe, the CEO told Benzinga.
"Eventually the sellers in Asia will stop selling, and at that point if institutional buyers want exposure to Bitcoin, they are going to have to buy it in the open market and the price is going to go back up," Thiel said.
MARA Price Action: Marathon Digital is up 128.26% year to date. Bitcoin is up 20.34% year to date.
At last check Wednesday, Marathon Digital was up 8% at $25.54.
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