The stage is set

Research evidence excerpt

The stage is set

Macquarie Equity Research MARA

Key Risks to Investment Thesis Company Description

• Sudden weakness in btc pricing as a result of changes MARA operates bitcoin mining business and was incorporated

in investor sentiment, macro volatility, regulation or in the State of Nevada in 2010 as Verve Ventures. The

other exogenous shocks. This negatively impacts both company took on a variety of other names as it participated

margins and digital assets held in treasury, the former in several different industries until entering the bitcoin

generally supportive of meeting both working capital and mining business in 2017. MARA's executive offices are in Fort

expansionary capex investment needs. Lauderdale, FL, and the company has physical operations

• Major step-ups in global network hashrate ahead of our across Texas, North Dakota, and Nebraska, along with JV

forecasts. interests in the Middle East and South America.

• Sudden increases in interest rates and consequential

impacts on tech multiples and risk assets generally. A

longer-dated risk of this is scope for higher interest rates

should the appetite of mainstream lenders for the sector

increase.

• Local data center and crypto-mining regulation impacting

the ability of miners to operate in certain jurisdictions,

procure the energy required for mining, or restrict the use

of btc, impacting revenues from btc rewards received in the

mining process.

• Risk of power pricing to become unfavorable, driving

suboptimal margins and use of cash. This would be

exacerbated for insufficiently priced hosting contracts/

operations.

• Should equity issuance be needed to fund growth capital,

this may yield a dilutive result if btc price fluctuations and/

or network difficulty negatively impact returns on hardware