Bitcoin News Today: MARA Holdings Lends 37.5% More Bitcoin, Generates 5-9% Yield

MARA Holdings, a prominent player in the Bitcoin mining industry, has recently garnered attention for its strategic deployment of its Bitcoin treasury. The company, known for having the largest hash rate among public Bitcoin miners and the biggest stack of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, has been under scrutiny for its operational inefficiencies and volatile profitability. However, a recent press release and social media claims have shed light on a new dimension of MARA's strategy: its Bitcoin lending activities.

In the first quarter of 2025, MARA had approximately 47,531 BTC on its balance sheet. Instead of selling these assets into the market, the company lent out around 14,269 BTC to institutions, marking a 37.5% increase from the previous quarter. This lending strategy has generated a yield of 5-9%, similar to traditional private credit or structured lending yields. The company's Bitcoin lending activities, which were initially described as small-scale and cautious, have now become a significant part of its treasury strategy.

MARA's lending activities have raised questions about whether the company is transitioning into a shadow bank. A shadow bank is a non-bank institution that operates like a bank but stays outside traditional banking regulations. MARA's lending business, which involves lending out capital (Bitcoin), generating recurring yield (paid in Bitcoin), and retaining the underlying principal as a long-term appreciating asset, mirrors the operations of a shadow bank. The interest paid in Bitcoin allows MARA to grow its stack passively while still keeping price exposure, creating a compounding mechanism that few public companies can replicate.

However, MARA is not a full-on shadow bank, as only around 15.5% of its holdings are being loaned out. The counterparty risk remains, and MARA hasn't disclosed exactly who's borrowing these BTC or what collateral arrangements are in place. But with tools like the SMA structure and statements from management pointing to careful selection of counterparties, there seems to be a risk-aware approach in place.

MARA's Bitcoin treasury strategy has also raised questions about the valuation of its business. As of June 30th, 2025, MARA reported 49,940 BTC on its balance sheet, translating to a treasury worth around $6.01 billion at a BTC price of approximately $120,370. MARA's market cap on the same day was $7.02 billion. The Enterprise Value (EV) of the company, calculated as Market Cap + Total Debt – Cash & Equivalents – Fair Value of BTC, was $3.52 billion. This discrepancy suggests that MARA's BTC stack has become so large relative to its equity valuation that everything else – its infrastructure, mining ops, lending platform, and future upside – are effectively deeply discounted.

In conclusion, MARA Holdings is charting new territory with its Bitcoin lending operation. With around 15% of its Bitcoin treasury deployed to generate recurring yield, and interest income paid in-kind, the company is starting to build what looks like the foundation of a BTC-native credit business. While it may not be a shadow bank by regulatory standards, conceptually, it is already behaving like one. This dynamic reframes how we evaluate MARA, turning it into a yield-generating Bitcoin financial platform rather than just a speculative mining play. However, investors should be aware of the risks, particularly around counterparty exposure and Bitcoin volatility.