Hut 8 Mining (HUT) posted 308 mined bitcoin last month. It now has 5,826 total bitcoin on reserve.
Marathon Digital (MARA) mined 462.1 bitcoins in January. The miner is accelerating its miner deployments throughout the year. While investors may expect Q2 and full-year production on the rise, last month’s production is disappointing. Management promised higher figures. Fortunately, bitcoin prices rose, overshadowing Marathon Digital’s weak mining volumes.
When bitcoin prices rise, the company’s asset value increases. Marathon has 8,595 bitcoin on its balance sheet.
Marathon has miners in Texas. Due to the storm, its February production will fall. MARA stock is already trading at close to 52-week lows. Bearish short interest is 20.98%. The markets are already bracing for near-term disappointments.
Investors might consider holding bitcoin directly, instead of MARA or HUT stock. Marathon is at risk of disappointing investors. The mining hardware will not increase output for at least a few months.
Hut 8 is more attractive than Marathon. Bears are less willing to bet against it (at a short interest of 6.3%). Furthermore, Hut 8 has a conservative acquisition strategy to fuel growth. Most recently, it acquired TeraGo’s Datacenter business for CAD 30 million. This will diversify Hut 8’s business in mining, cloud, and decentralized finance.
