Key Highlights

  • MARA struck a deal with Starwood’s data-center arm to convert select U.S. mining sites into AI-focused hyperscale campuses.

  • The joint effort targets about 1 gigawatt of near-term IT capacity, with an expansion goal of 2.5 gigawatts+ over time.

  • MARA shares rallied about 17% after the announcement, with investors framing the move as diversification beyond pure bitcoin mining.

Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings announced it has partnered with Starwood Capital Group to develop AI-oriented data centers across parts of MARA’s existing U.S. footprint, aiming to repurpose “power-rich” mining sites into infrastructure that can serve enterprise, cloud, and AI workloads.

What Does MARA Plan To Build

Under the agreement, MARA will work with Starwood Digital Ventures to jointly develop, finance, and operate hyperscale data-center campuses on select sites already controlled by MARA. The companies said the initial focus is on locations with low-cost energy and strong grid interconnection – assets originally assembled for mining that can also support high-performance computing.

MARA CEO Fred Thiel said the strategy is to turn “power certainty” into “capacity certainty,” positioning the sites as predictable, scalable infrastructure for customers running AI and related workloads.

Capacity Targets and Market Reaction

The companies said they expect to deliver around 1 GW of near-term IT capacity, with a longer-term plan to scale beyond 2.5 GW. MARA shares rose sharply after the announcement, peaking about 17% higher, as the market treated the partnership as a pivot toward data-center revenues at a time when mining margins have been pressured.

The announcement follows a rough stretch for crypto mining equities, which have faced tighter economics and higher volatility tied to bitcoin price swings and network difficulty. The sector has also dealt with operational disruptions: U.S. winter weather in January forced some miners to throttle or shut down to reduce strain on local grids, contributing to a temporary dip in hashrate.

MARA did not provide a full buildout timeline or customer list, but framed the partnership as a multi-stage expansion that could allow mining sites to support both bitcoin operations and AI-driven high-performance computing, depending on market conditions.