MARA

A Cointelegraph industry roundup covers several crypto market trends: Bitcoin miners pivoting to AI infrastructure, BitMine increasing its Ethereum holdings, stablecoin liquidity remaining idle, and tokenized U.S. Treasurys being used as trading collateral. The article is a broad sector overview with no single dominant catalyst or company-specific development.

MARA Holdings has announced a $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Ridge Energy as part of a strategic push into AI data centers. The deal signals a significant diversification away from MARA's core Bitcoin mining business into energy infrastructure and AI compute. No further financial terms or closing timeline were disclosed in the headline.

Iren (IREN) surged 7.50% to $52.02 on April 23, 2026, following positive coverage of its strategic pivot from Bitcoin mining to AI data center operations. The company is planning a potential $6 billion share issuance to fund AI infrastructure expansion, raising dilution concerns among investors ahead of Q3 earnings on May 7. Bitcoin mining peers Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) are mentioned in the broader market context, while Microsoft (MSFT) is referenced in relation to AI data center demand.