Marathon Digital Buys Bitcoin, Adopts 'Full HODL' Strategy: What's Going On With The Mining Stock?

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc MARA shares are trading lower Thursday amid a drop in the price of Bitcoin BTC/USD. The company announced the purchase of $100 million of Bitcoin as it adopts a buy-and-hold strategy.

What Happened: Marathon Digital announced that it has purchased $100 million of Bitcoin and now currently holds over 20,000 Bitcoin on its balance sheet.

Effective immediately, the company will adopt a “full HODL” approach to its Bitcoin treasury policy, retaining all Bitcoin it mines and periodically making strategic open market purchases.

“Adopting a full HODL strategy reflects our confidence in the long-term value of bitcoin,” said Fred Thiel, chairman and CEO of Marathon Digital.

“We believe bitcoin is the world’s best treasury reserve asset and support the idea of sovereign wealth funds holding it. We encourage governments and corporations to all hold bitcoin as a reserve asset.”

Marathon noted that Bitcoin’s recent price decline combined with the strength of the company’s balance sheet created an opportunity to add to Bitcoin holdings and focus on growth holdings on the balance sheet. The company believes Bitcoin is supported by current tailwinds including increased institutional support and an improving macro environment.

See Also: Bitcoin Tumbles 3%, Ethereum Plunges Below $3,200: What Is Going On With ETFs?

Is MARA A Good Stock To Buy?

Wall Street analysts view Marathon Digital on the whole as a Buy, given the history of coverage over the past three months. Brian Dobson from Chardan Capital is the most bearish, expecting a 30% fall in the stock in the coming year.

But looking at how the market as a whole thinks of the stock, you can reference historical price action for views on whether investors feel strongly about the stock one way or another. In the past three months, Marathon Digital rose 12.17%, which indicates that opinion improved on the business and how attractive it is to own based on either its stock price, or underlying fundamentals, like revenue, which rose 223.08% over the past year.

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MARA Price Action: Marathon Digital shares were down 1.33% at $20.40 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

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