The bitcoin mining sector is heating up again as prices flirt with record highs, and public companies are racing to prove their dominance.
While IREN recently overtook Marathon Digital (MARA) as the largest miner by market cap, Marathon still holds the crown when it comes to sheer bitcoin reserves.
Marathon now controls 52,850 BTC, worth an estimated $6.4 billion, according to its latest operational update. The company added 373 coins in September after producing 736 BTC that month – capturing just over 5% of all network rewards, even as global hashrate hit a new record above 1 zetahash per second. Its energized hashrate has inched up to 60.4 EH/s, with its Texas wind-powered facility running at full deployment.
Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel said the company processed 218 blocks last month, a 5% increase from August, showing that Marathon’s operations remain resilient despite rising difficulty. The firm is one of only a handful of public miners managing more than 50 EH/s, alongside names like IREN, Riot, and CleanSpark.
Even so, the financial league table looks different. Marathon’s market valuation has slipped below $7 billion, placing it third behind IREN’s $12.8 billion and Riot Platforms’ $7.1 billion. Investors, however, appear more confident than earlier this year: MARA stock has rallied 20% over the past month, pushing its year-to-date performance back into positive territory.
Marathon’s massive treasury keeps it second overall among public companies, behind only Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which has amassed a staggering 640,031 BTC worth about $77 billion. Other corporate giants with significant reserves include Tether’s Twenty One, Metaplanet, and the Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company.
Meanwhile, Cango is quietly climbing the ranks. The company mined 616 BTC in September, lifting its holdings to 5,810 BTC worth about $700 million. CEO Paul Yu described the growth as part of a broader strategy to blend traditional bitcoin mining with high-performance computing initiatives, leveraging the firm’s global footprint to diversify into new tech markets.
With bitcoin now back above $120,000, miners are betting big on scale. Those who secure the most blocks today – and build the largest treasuries – may be best positioned when the next stage of the bull cycle begins.
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Source: https://coindoo.com/marathon-digital-secures-6-4b-bitcoin-stash-as-miners-race-for-dominance/