Shares of MARA Holdings climbed 17% in post-market trading after the Bitcoin mining firm announced a strategic partnership with Starwood Capital Group to develop large-scale artificial intelligence data centers across existing US sites.
MARA and Starwood Target 2.5 Gigawatts of AI Capacity
Under the agreement, Starwood will oversee design, construction and tenant sourcing through its digital infrastructure arm, Starwood Digital Ventures. The partners plan to deliver roughly 1 gigawatt of computing capacity in the near term, with ambitions to scale beyond 2.5 gigawatts over time. Both companies will jointly finance and operate the projects.
Many of MARA’s facilities were originally built for Bitcoin mining but benefit from direct access to substantial power infrastructure. As demand for AI computing accelerates, access to reliable energy has become a critical bottleneck for cloud and enterprise providers.
Bitcoin Miners Pivot Toward AI Infrastructure
The shift reflects broader industry pressure following the recent Bitcoin halving, which reduced mining rewards and compressed margins amid rising energy costs and market volatility. Several mining firms have diversified into high-performance computing and AI hosting to stabilize revenues.
Despite the pivot, MARA leadership emphasized that Bitcoin remains central to its long-term strategy. The company also reported fourth-quarter revenue of $202.3 million, down 6% year over year, citing lower average Bitcoin prices during the period.
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