Summary
- MARA Holdings is set to acquire over 1,200 acres of powered land in Matagorda County, Texas from HIF USA, gaining access to up to 2 GW of grid capacity by April 2028.
- This site will be developed into a computing campus for AI and Bitcoin mining, while HIF retains a minority stake and continues its fuel initiatives elsewhere.
- MARA's stock surged on Thursday, now showing an increase of over 50% in 2026.
MARA Holdings, a significant player in the Bitcoin mining sector, is reinforcing its belief that the U.S. power grid is the true asset to invest in, rather than the cryptocurrency itself. Following this recent announcement, its stock soared on Thursday.
Based in Miami, the company revealed on Thursday that it has finalized an agreement with HIF USA, a developer of synthetic fuels, to purchase a vast tract of land in Matagorda County, Texas, situated around 90 miles southwest of Houston. This parcel, exceeding 1,200 acres, will provide access to considerable electrical grid capacity—up to 1 gigawatt by October 2027 and potentially 2 gigawatts by the following spring.
MARA intends to transform this land into a computing campus, in collaboration with Starwood Digital Ventures, designed to accommodate both AI data centers and the energy-intensive operations for Bitcoin mining. HIF, which was exploring the land for its fuel production objectives, will maintain a minority ownership after a computing tenant is secured and has stated it will continue its other fuel-related projects in Texas and internationally.
The company's stock has risen more than 15% on the day, reaching approximately $13.87, according to Yahoo Finance, with its monthly growth exceeding 4%. In 2026, MARA shares have increased by over 54%, driven by significant demand for AI computing and the accompanying investor enthusiasm.
This acquisition reflects a notable trend where Bitcoin mining firms are evolving into infrastructure developers, competing for the limited energy resources that AI companies require.
MARA indicated that once the site is fully developed, its overall power portfolio will approach nearly 4.8 gigawatts, which includes a previously announced purchase of a power plant in Ohio—this scale is comparable to that of some regional utilities.
“This transaction advances our strategy of securing strategically located infrastructure assets capable of supporting high-performance compute and Bitcoin workloads,” stated MARA Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel. “As the demand for digital infrastructure continues to grow, we believe that sites with reliable, scalable power will become increasingly valuable. This acquisition significantly enhances our long-term development pipeline and strengthens our capacity to support high-performance computing, maximizing the value of that power over time.”
For Matagorda County, located along the Texas Gulf Coast, the deal promises tangible benefits, including the creation of thousands of construction and permanent jobs, as MARA adds to the more than $1.2 billion it claims to have already invested in the region.