TL;DR
- MARA and Starwood are building something that changes everything for crypto miners
- Why Wall Street is suddenly betting on Bitcoin miners for AI infrastructure
- The 2.5 gigawatt deal that proves mining companies aren’t just about Bitcoin
Bitcoin mining companies sit on something most AI data center developers spend years trying to secure: land, power, and grid connections. MARA Holdings decided to stop sitting on those assets and start monetizing them. On Thursday, the company announced a joint venture with Starwood Capital Group — Barry Sternlicht’s private investment firm — to convert a portion of MARA’s existing mining sites into infrastructure capable of supporting artificial intelligence workloads and cloud services.
The structure of the deal puts Starwood Digital Ventures, the firm’s data center development arm, in charge of design, tenant sourcing, construction, and ongoing facility operations. MARA contributes the sites. Together, the companies expect to deliver approximately one gigawatt of immediate capacity, with a potential build-out reaching 2.5 gigawatts. Neither party disclosed the financial terms of the arrangement.
MARA announces a strategic partnership with Starwood Digital Ventures to accelerate delivery of cutting-edge hyperscale, enterprise, and AI capable digital infrastructure.
The joint platform is expected to deliver approximately 1 GW of near-term IT Capacity, with a pathway to… pic.twitter.com/9rE8orvUnG
— MARA (@MARA) February 26, 2026
MARA CEO Fred Thiel confirmed the company retains the option to hold up to 50% ownership in the joint venture, with both parties sharing development costs and profits equally. The venture will prioritize sites offering cost-efficient energy access and existing interconnection positions — two factors that determine how quickly a data center can come online and at what operating cost.
Sternlicht addressed the selection process directly. Speaking in an interview Thursday, he said his team evaluated multiple miners before identifying which ones offered workable sites and realistic timelines. Speed to delivery and geographic positioning drove the decision. He also noted that Starwood’s reputation across debt and equity markets gives the venture a fundraising advantage that helps MARA execute at scale.
Why Bitcoin Miners Became the Fastest Route Into AI Infrastructure
The mining industry’s shift toward AI isn’t accidental. Miners built their businesses around two things the AI sector desperately needs: cheap energy and large physical footprints. Converting an existing mining facility into a higher-tier data center takes considerably less time than building one from the ground up, and investors rewarded companies that moved early.
MARA’s competitors who made the transition ahead of schedule saw their market valuations climb sharply. IREN, TeraWulf, and Cipher Mining all recorded strong share price appreciation over the past year, and their combined market value now exceeds MARA’s — even though MARA produces more computing power for Bitcoin mining than nearly any other U.S.-listed peer. The gap in valuation reflects where the market currently assigns growth premium: AI infrastructure, not mining output.
Activist investor Starboard built a substantial position in Riot Platforms and pushed management to accelerate AI-related development. Riot controls one of the largest mining sites in Texas and holds access to substantial energy reserves, making it a natural candidate for conversion. The firm now faces expectations to act, not plan.
The decline in digital asset prices added another layer of urgency across the sector. As Bitcoin’s value dropped, miners began selling holdings to cover operational expenses and fund infrastructure transitions. The economics of pure mining weakened, and the economics of AI hosting strengthened, pulling capital and attention in the same direction.
Bitcoin mining remains capital-intensive at its core
Operators raise billions to build facilities, lock in energy contracts, and purchase specialized hardware to process blockchain transactions. The reward — a Bitcoin payment for successfully validating a block — justifies the investment only when prices cooperate. When they don’t, companies with convertible assets hold an advantage over those with nothing but mining rigs.
MARA’s partnership with Starwood converts a liability — underutilized infrastructure in a down mining cycle — into a position in one of the fastest-growing segments of the technology sector. The 2.5-gigawatt ceiling on the venture gives both parties room to scale well beyond the initial deployment, and Starwood’s development expertise compresses the timeline between announcement and revenue.
