MARA is a better buy now as an AI company than as a bitcoin company, and retiring its convertible notes was smart because it also removed the hedged shorts tied to them. The stock is up 35% since @qthomp called a death spiral imminent after MARA sold over $1B of bitcoin near $72,000. Miners have been unwinding bitcoin as a balance-sheet asset for over two years; public miners sold 60k BTC in 2022. x.com 

Bitcoin appears near a local bottom: MARA's reported sale of 996 BTC is another contrarian bottom indicator. x.com 

MARA is finally selling its bitcoin reserves, which is the right move, but still needs to leave bitcoin mining, a failing business model. Per Lookonchain, MARA sold 23,093 BTC in the first half of 2026 and still holds 35,577. With the hashprice index at all-time lows, this is one of the most inefficient periods to mine in history. Using sale proceeds to pivot to AI/HPC could make MARA a really good opportunity in the coming weeks and months, if management has finally woken up. x.com 

MARA's sale of 15.1k BTC, about $1.1B, is balance-sheet discipline, not capitulation. It used the proceeds to retire $1B of convertible notes at a 9% discount, cutting debt from $3.3B to $2.3B and reducing future dilution risk. MARA is also converting US mining sites into hyperscale AI infrastructure through a joint venture with Starwood Digital Ventures, a real hedge since mining is cyclical but AI demand is structural. Its bitcoin treasury remains intact. x.com  x.com 

Coinbase, Strategy and Marathon can run hard as bitcoin squeezes past $77,000 on the official reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Coinbase has room to $270, Strategy to $250 and Marathon to $15. x.com  x.com 

MARA's management is clearly clueless, having sold 25% of its bitcoin after a 25–30% drop while sitting years behind peers in the AI data-center transition. The company could be really undervalued if management got it together, but there are much better places for capital unless it cleans house or sells to an operator that can manage the assets better. A renewed bitcoin rally could warrant another look. x.com  x.com  x.com 

MARA's accelerating shift into AI infrastructure, plus upside from a bitcoin recovery, makes it attractive. Its $1.5 billion Long Ridge Energy & Power deal adds a 505 MW gas plant in Ohio, lifting power capacity 65% toward a 1GW+ AI campus. The Starwood venture targets 1 GW of IT capacity near term and over 2.5 GW long term, with tenant talks accelerating. Q1 revenue fell 18% on bitcoin prices; MARA sold $1.5 billion of bitcoin to cut debt and fund AI, still holding 50,000+ BTC. x.com 

Strategy's accretive Bitcoin accumulation has raised net backing per share, lowering the premium needed to revisit its $543 intraday high. At $98,000 Bitcoin, backing rose from $127 to $160 since November 2024, cutting the required net mNAV from 4.3x to 3.4x. A 2.5x premium at $200,000-$250,000 Bitcoin would imply roughly $896-$1,131; 2.5x is plausible at peak euphoria, not expected at $126,000. Premiums depend on Bitcoin momentum and sentiment, which Strategy cannot control. x.com  x.com 

MARA lacks vision because CEO Fred Thiel keeps bouncing between strategies, from bitcoin treasury company to AI data-center play. Per @Tsuff101, he opposed the AI pivot and bought tens of thousands of bitcoin during the treasury hype, only for MARA to later sell 20K BTC around $60K, and now sounds more bullish on AI infrastructure than mining. He is late to the space, and his turning bullish is if anything a contrarian signal. x.com 

Bitcoin's valuation looks stretched relative to network use, raising the risk of selling pressure. Its market value has risen faster than active addresses, lifting the NVM ratio while address activity has not kept up with price. This is a valuation warning, not a definite top like 2021 or 2025, nor a signal that price must fall immediately; it could keep rising with NVM high. x.com