From a meteorological standpoint, summer 2026 will go down in the history books for its record temperatures. For holders of digital currencies, however, the past few months brought a chill instead. They experienced a harsh crypto winter, a term describing phases in which prices fall sharply and trading volumes dry up. A telling weather report can be found by looking at Bitcoin (BTC). In June and July, the price of the largest and most important cryptocurrency dropped below the USD 60,000 mark for the first time since October 2024. At its low point, the BTC/USD exchange rate traded more than 50% below the all-time high reached in October 2024.
Management at Mara Holdings likely felt the crypto winter in their bones as well. After all, BTC mining is one of the US company's core competencies. Across a total of 19 data centers, 14 of them in the US, Mara offers the ability to mine digital currency. The Florida-based service provider uses surplus electricity to carry out these energy-intensive processes. Mara Holdings' latest figures clearly reflect the BTC correction: at just under USD 175 million, second-quarter 2026 revenue came in more than a quarter below the prior-year period. At the same time, the company posted an operating loss (adjusted EBITDA level) of USD 360.9 million. In the second quarter of 2025, the BTC rally, Mara itself holds large Bitcoin reserves, had driven a gain of more than USD 1.2 billion. Still, compared with the previous quarter, the Miami-area group managed to improve profitability (see chart).
For CEO Fred Thiel, the first half of 2026 was primarily about expanding and transforming Mara. "The second half of the year is about execution," the top executive writes in a letter to shareholders. By winning new customers and bringing facilities online, the company aims to create long-term value for shareholders. Beyond crypto mining, Thiel sees artificial intelligence (AI) as a major opportunity. He doesn't view the expansion into this megatrend as a break from the past. "It's the natural evolution of what we've built so far," the CEO explains. At the "Long Ridge" gas-fired power plant alone, acquired for around USD 1.5 billion, he intends to expand power generation capacity from the current 505 megawatts (MW) to more than 1,100 MW by 2030. On the more than 600-hectare site located in the US state of Ohio, Mara also plans to build data centers.
The CEO's heart is likely warmed, quite literally, by the recent performance of BTC/USD. Within the space of a month, the digital currency has appreciated by nearly a fifth against the US dollar. Hopes that the crypto winter is ending have also given Mara shares a boost. Even so, the small-cap stock remains stuck in a broader sideways trend. Combined with the Nasdaq-listed stock's high volatility, this pattern makes Barrier Reverse Convertibles an appealing investment alternative.
Leonteq has issued two variants of this popular structure based on Mara Holdings. In the CHF product currency, the softcallable BRC offers a substantial coupon of 24.2% p.a. The USD-denominated counterpart offers a guaranteed payout that is 420 basis points higher. The barrier is set at 49% of the initial level. As long as Mara does not fall to or below this level, investors receive full repayment of the nominal amount at the end of the term. If this does not hold, the investment would be directly linked to the price performance of the underlying.
Beyond the Barrier Reverse Convertibles, Leonteq also offers a suitable set of instruments for Mara Holdings. Investors who believe the recent recovery in the Bitcoin price has further to run — or who instead expect another pullback — can position themselves accordingly using Long or Short Mini-Futures.
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