He added that MARA has not signed any AI-related leases yet, but discussions are active across roughly 90% of the company\u2019s portfolio. \u201cOur expectation is we\u2019ll announce one or two leases by the end of this year,\u201d Thiel stated.<\/p>\n
MARA\u2019s stock<\/a> edged 0.2% higher in morning trade. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the Bitcoin (BTC) miner, currently pivoting toward data center infrastructure, trended in \u2018bullish\u2019 territory over the past day, accompanied by \u2018high\u2019 levels of chatter.<\/p>\n MARA Takes Tenant-First Approach To AI Infrastructure<\/p>\n According to Thiel, prospective customers, including hyperscalers and cloud providers, all require different infrastructure configurations, making speculative construction inefficient.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Google\u2019s a tenant, they have a particular spec. Microsoft may have a different spec. AWS, Anthropic, whomever \u2014 they all have different specs for what they want,\u201d he said. \u201cSo for us, it\u2019s all built to suit.\u201d<\/p>\n Thiel also pointed to MARA\u2019s\u00a0partnership with Starwood<\/a> as a competitive advantage, citing the firm\u2019s experience building and operating large-scale data centers for major technology companies. The firm also announced a\u00a0$1.5 billion acquisition<\/a> of Long Ridge Energy & Power last month.<\/p>\n Thiel Says MARA Has Power Advantage In AI Race<\/p>\n MARA announced that it would expand beyond Bitcoin mining in 2024 and pivoted towards power generation for AI in 2025. Thiel noted that the company currently controls roughly 1.1 gigawatts (GW) of energized capacity, giving it an advantage in a market where AI companies are scrambling for electricity to support compute-heavy workloads.<\/p>\n \u201cThe key gating item in the AI industry today is availability of power,\u201d Thiel said. \u201cIf you don’t have power where you can plug compute in, you don’t have sales.\u201d Thiel added that MARA\u2019s sites already have land and power infrastructure in place, allowing tenants to move more quickly than if they were starting from scratch elsewhere.<\/p>\n He estimated that once permits and construction are completed, tenants could be operational within 18 to 24 months.<\/p>\n MARA\u2019s stock has gained nearly 40% this year, but has fallen over 20% in the last 12 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read also:\u00a0Bitcoin Slips Below $80K After PPI Data Triples Forecast, Adding To Inflation Fears<\/a><\/p>\n For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com<\/p>\n
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