The largest U.S. bitcoin miner, MARA Holdings, bought a site in Matagorda County, Texas. The total consideration could reach $600 million if all project milestones are met.
MARA has entered into a definitive agreement with HIF to acquire a strategic powered land site in Texas. The site spans more than 1,200 acres with access to up to an initial 1 GW of grid capacity by October 2027 and up to 2 GW by April 2028, subject to ERCOT approval.
We intend… pic.twitter.com/OZ0DvKlZoQ— MARA (@MARA) July 9, 2026
Deal details
The more than 1,200-acre (~486 ha) site is located about 145 km southwest of Houston. The transaction was signed with HIF USA LLC, the U.S. subsidiary of low-carbon fuel developer HIF Global, and closed on July 2 via MARA’s subsidiary Volt Texas LLC.
The asset the miner bought had previously been intended for large-scale e-methanol production.
MARA will make payments in stages tied to key milestones, including regulatory approvals, purchase of the land (it is currently under contract), permission to deliver power, and execution of a data center lease with a third-party tenant.
After the lease is signed, HIF will retain a minority stake in the project and participate in its further development. The firm called the deal a partial monetization of infrastructure in Matagorda and added that it has already issued a permit to begin work on a distribution substation to connect the site to the grid.
MARA expects access to an initial 1 GW of capacity by October 2027 and to reach 2 GW by April 2028. Construction is planned for this year.
The company said there is interest in the site from potential tenants in high-performance computing.
MARA’s strategy
The transaction is the latest in a series of major MARA acquisitions. In April, the company agreed to acquire Long Ridge Energy & Power. The asset includes a 505 MW gas-fired power plant in Ohio and more than 1,600 acres for a digital infrastructure campus. The price is about $1.5 billion including debt. Closing is expected in the second half of 2026.
In February, the miner announced a strategic partnership with Starwood Capital Group aimed at converting MARA sites into AI infrastructure. The platform is designed for about 1 GW of IT capacity with potential to grow to 2.5 GW.
After the Matagorda facility is fully online and the Long Ridge deal closes, MARA’s potential portfolio power capacity will more than double to roughly 4.8 GW.
Bitdeer to build $36M mining equipment plant
Mining company Bitdeer has begun construction of its first U.S. manufacturing site for its own SEALMINER machines. According to The Energy Mag, the $36 million plant in Sparks, Nevada, is slated to come online by the end of 2026.
The facility will cover roughly 17,400 sq m with production capacity of 10,000 SEALMINER devices per month. The project will create about 70 jobs, company representatives said.
The plant will complement Bitdeer’s existing data centers in the U.S. and its hub in San Jose, California. Until now, the company’s U.S. presence had been limited to bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure.
Paul Hanson, chairman of Bitdeer Industrial, said the site will strengthen supply chains and bring production closer to U.S. customers.
Diversification
Construction began as the industry faces severe pressure on profitability. According to Hashrate Index, at the time of writing the hashprice stands at $29.6 per PH/s per day. The figure is 6% below the all-time high of about $27.8 recorded in February.
In response, Bitdeer is pursuing a vertical integration strategy. The company designs its own SEALMINER rigs and deploys them across its mining fleet. In April, the firm launched mass production of the A4 series with efficiency of 9.45 J/TH.
Bitdeer is also expanding into AI. In April, the miner reported $69 million in recognized revenue from its AI Cloud division, which provides compute infrastructure for AI training. The company is also in talks to host third-party equipment at the Tydal site in Norway.
Cipher Digital share sale
Cipher Digital CEO Tyler Page filed a Form 144 with the SEC for a proposed sale of 112,500 company shares worth about $2.38 million. The proposed trade date is listed as July 8.
The filing is tied to a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted on December 19, 2025. In its annual report, Cipher disclosed that Page’s plan permits possible sales of up to 1.5 million shares through December 24, 2026. The new notice covers 112,500 shares — 7.5% of the limit.
On March 25, 2026, Page had already sold 37,500 Cipher shares at $16.11 each for about $604,125.
Cipher is restructuring from a bitcoin miner into a developer of data centers for AI and high-performance computing (HPC). In February, the company changed its name from Cipher Mining to Cipher Digital and reported 600 MW of contracted HPC capacity under two leases, including a 15-year 300 MW agreement with Amazon Web Services and a 10-year lease for 300 MW with Fluidstack and Google.
In the first quarter, the firm announced a third lease for a data center campus with an investment-grade hyperscaler, a $200 million revolving credit facility, revenue of $35 million, and adjusted EBITDA of -$48 million amid development of the Barber Lake and Black Pearl projects.
In June, JPMorgan analysts said mining economics had worsened because bitcoin continued to trade below the cost of producing a single coin.
