From theblock by Jason Shubnell

In recent weeks, Bitcoin BTC -6.38% miners have been gobbling up millions of dollars worth of the world’s largest cryptocurrency in an effort to shore up their reserves as the industry continues to adjust to the post-halving world. MARA and Hut 8 are among the latest to step up their accumulations.

MARA, formerly known as Marathon Digital, said Thursday it raised $1.925 billion from 0% convertible notes in November and December. Using the proceeds from its zero-coupon convertible notes offerings, the largest publicly traded miner in the U.S. has acquired 15,574 BTC for about $1.53 billion at about $98,529 per bitcoin. It has also repurchased $263 million in aggregate principal amount of its existing convertible notes due 2026 and expects to use the remaining proceeds to acquire additional bitcoin.

As of Dec. 18, MARA holds 44,394 BTC, valued at $4.45 billion based on a spot BTC price of $100,151.

Hut 8, currently the eighth-largest public miner by market cap, also said Thursday it acquired 990 bitcoin for approximately $100 million. Hut 8’s strategic Bitcoin reserve now totals 10,096 BTC with a market value of more than $1 billion as of Dec. 18. The company said this positions it as one of the world’s 10 largest corporate owners of Bitcoin.

“A key component of our treasury strategy, the strategic Bitcoin reserve supports a flywheel effect that aligns our capital and operating strategies to accelerate value creation across the business,” CEO Asher Genoot said Thursday in a press release. “We believe deeply in our operating business and that building a strategic Bitcoin reserve will fortify our financial position as we pursue large-scale growth initiatives across power and digital infrastructure.”

'Going mainstream'

This news comes the same week ​​Riot Platforms used a recent convertible senior notes offering to increase its holdings to 17,429 BTC.

"Putting bitcoin on the balance sheet was once a reality for only the crypto-native; it’s now going mainstream on the back of a promising post-election outlook," Nathan McCauley, CEO and co-founder of Anchorage Digital, previously told The Block. "With the floodgates starting to open, expect more and more publicly traded names to put excess treasury cash to work by looking toward bitcoin as a reserve asset."

Meanwhile, leading corporate bitcoin holder MicroStrategy also purchased another 15,350 BTC for approximately $1.5 billion. The company now holds 439,000 BTC, worth over $45 billion. The business intelligence company has added $17.5 billion in bitcoin, or around 39% of its total position, over the past six weeks alone, The Block’s James Hunt previously reported.

“We’ll just keep buying the top forever, every day is a good day to buy bitcoin,” MicroStrategy founder and chairman Michael Saylor said Tuesday on CNBC. “I would have bought Manhattan 100 years ago, 200 years ago, every year for the past 300 years. You pay a little bit more than the person that bought Manhattan before you, but it’s always a good investment to invest in the economic capital of the free world.”

By leveraging its core software business and taking on significant debt to accumulate bitcoin, MicroStrategy has become a high-stakes bet on crypto adoption, generating admiration and skepticism in the market.

“[S]maller companies with surplus cash and weakening core business, could follow the MSTR model,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a November note to clients. “Larger tech companies would not scale Bitcoin due to core business dominance and smaller companies are starting new in capital markets.”

The price of bitcoin is down 3.3% to $100,220 over the past 24 hours, according to The Block's BTC price data.