The American mining company MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) has used a significant portion of its bitcoin reserves as collateral for new credit facilities to finance a strategic pivot toward energy infrastructure and artificial intelligence. According to its quarterly filing with the SEC, on August 4, 2026, the company entered into two bitcoin-backed credit agreements totaling $750 million.

A total of 18,750 BTC was pledged as collateral, with a fair value of approximately $1.2 billion at the time of the transaction. This represents more than half of MARA’s bitcoin treasury: as of June 30, 2026, the company held 35,577 BTC, of which approximately 9,270 BTC had already been pledged or lent under previous programs.

The first tranche, worth $450 million, was arranged through Coinbase Prime, with Coinbase Credit also appearing in the documents. It refinances a previously existing $150 million facility and provides $300 million in new capital. The second $300 million loan was provided by Two Prime Lending. Thus, total principal debt amounts to $750 million and has been fully drawn, while the newly raised capital amounts to approximately $600 million. Coinbase Institutional called the tranche one of the largest crypto-backed loans to date.

Both loans mature in early August 2028. The Coinbase facility includes an option for automatic extension by one year if neither party opts out. Its interest rate is floating: the midpoint of the Fed’s target range plus 3.875 percentage points. The Two Prime loan has a fixed rate of 7.65%. The weighted average cost of the new borrowings is estimated at approximately 7.56%, with annual interest expenses of about $56.7 million if the principal remains unchanged.

The lenders require the maintenance of specified collateral ratios. A decline in the price of bitcoin could trigger a margin call and the need to provide additional collateral. Failure to meet the requirements gives lenders the right to liquidate the pledged coins.

The funds raised are intended for general corporate purposes, primarily to finance the cash portion of the acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power LLC. Announced in 2026, the acquisition is valued at approximately $1.5 billion including debt. The asset includes a high-efficiency combined-cycle power plant in Hannibal, Ohio, with a designed capacity of 505 MW, as well as more than 1,600 acres of industrially permitted land. MARA plans to develop the site for power generation, continued bitcoin mining, and the creation of campuses for AI and high-performance computing.

The transaction shows how public mining companies are turning digital assets into a working balance-sheet tool. MARA gains liquidity without selling bitcoin or issuing additional shares and retains the ability to benefit from future increases in the BTC price, although it also assumes risks associated with collateral volatility. For the digital asset market, this is another signal of the maturation of institutional bitcoin lending infrastructure.$BTC