Bitcoin mining company MARA cuts about 15% of its workforce, strategically transforming into an energy and digital infrastructure company

According to Blockspace, one of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the world, MARA (NASDAQ: MARA), has laid off about 15% of its staff, affecting full-time employees in multiple departments as well as some contractors. CEO Fred Thiel stated in an internal memo that this layoff is not purely a financial decision, but part of the company's strategic transformation from a pure Bitcoin mining company to an energy and digital infrastructure company.

Previously, MARA completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Exaion, a subsidiary of the French national energy company EDF, in February this year, officially entering the AI and high-performance computing (HPC) fields, and reached an agreement with data center developer Starwood to repurpose about 1 GW of mining infrastructure for AI workloads.

In addition, MARA recently sold over 15,133 BTC (approximately $1.1 billion) to repay $1 billion in convertible bonds, with a net loss of $1.3 billion for the full year of 2025 and an adjusted EBITDA of -$330.8 million. Affected employees will receive one month of paid leave, 13 weeks of severance pay, and full compensation for unused vacation.