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MARA Loosens Bitcoin Grip: Will MicroStrategy Follow?

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Top Public Companies Holding BTC

MARA Holdings has formally rewritten its Bitcoin playbook, expanding its treasury policy to permit sales of Bitcoin held directly on its balance sheet.

It raises questions about whether Strategy (MicroStrategy) could be next, seeing as MARA is only second to Michael Saylor’s firm among public companies holding BTC.

MARA Opens Door to Selling 53,822 BTC Stockpile in Treasury Pivot After $1.7 Billion Loss

The move, detailed in its annual 10-K filing submitted to the US SEC on March 2, 2026, marks the first time MARA has explicitly authorized liquidation of its accumulated treasury stockpile.

“In the second half of 2025, we changed our digital asset management strategy to permit sales of bitcoin generated from operations, and in 2026, we expanded the strategy to allow for sales of bitcoin held on our balance sheet. Accordingly, we may hold bitcoin for long-term investment purposes and may also buy or sell bitcoin from time to time, subject to market conditions and our capital allocation priorities,” read an excerpt in the filing.

It marks a sharp departure from its prior “full HODL” stance, with the legal framework for liquidating the company’s entire reserve now in effect. Notably, no immediate sales have been announced.

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As of this writing, MARA holds 53,822 BTC, worth $3.59 billion at current rates of $66,565 per BTC. This makes it the second-largest publicly listed corporate Bitcoin holder, trailing only Strategy, which holds 720,737 BTC as of this writing.

Top Public Companies Holding BTC
Top Public Companies Holding BTC. Source: Bitcoin Treasuries

Roughly 72% of MARA’s holdings (38,507 BTC) remain in unrestricted long-term treasury. The remaining 28%, or about 15,315 BTC, has already been “activated” under its digital asset management program.

Of that, 9,377 BTC are loaned out, generating $32.1 million in interest income in 2025, while 5,938 BTC are pledged as collateral for a $350 million credit facility.

Combined with $547 million in cash, MARA controls approximately $5.3 billion in liquid assets.

The more immediate concern, however, is that over 53,000 BTC represents a potential supply overhang in an already fragile market environment. This is particularly concerning if miner stress intensifies.

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From Ideological HODL to Active Management

The shift caps a gradual change, following MARA’s 2024 10-K, which described a strict policy of retaining all mined and purchased Bitcoin “for the foreseeable future.”

In the second half of 2025, the company began selling newly mined BTC to fund operations, offloading 4,076 BTC for $413.1 million in proceeds.

The 2026 expansion now extends that flexibility to the entire balance-sheet reserve. This policy change follows a turbulent fourth quarter.

MARA reported a $1.7 billion net loss in Q4 2025, largely driven by non-cash fair-value adjustments following Bitcoin’s roughly 30% decline in late 2025. The company also recorded $422.2 million in fair-value decreases and impairment losses tied to its digital assets.

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Notably, MARA recently entered a joint venture with Starwood Capital to develop AI and high-performance computing data centers, repurposing its energy infrastructure.

Monetizing Bitcoin could fund that “energy-to-AI” transition without further diluting shareholders through equity issuance.

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Could Strategy Be Next?

Unlike MARA, Strategy continues to describe Bitcoin as its “primary treasury reserve asset” and has recently added to its holdings.

The firm’s executives highlight sales only in extreme liquidity scenarios, not as an opportunistic capital allocation tool.

“We will not be selling. Instead, I believe we will be buying Bitcoin every quarter forever,” Michael Saylor stated in a recent interview.

At Bitcoin’s current price, there is short-term pressure on Strategy, primarily due to unrealized losses on its massive Bitcoin treasury.

MARA’s pivot appears miner-specific rather than industry-wide. Still, the symbolism is significant. Corporate Bitcoin treasuries were once seen as permanent supply sinks.

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MARA’s 10-K signals a maturing approach, one where Bitcoin is not just conviction capital, but a dynamic balance-sheet instrument.

Notwithstanding, markets will now be watching future 8-K and quarterly filings, as well as on-chain flows, for the first real test of that flexibility.

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Ansem Says Ethereum Is in a Worse Spot Than 2023 as Thesis Weakens

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Ethereum Price Prediction

Crypto analyst Ansem argues that Ethereum (ETH) is in a “worse spot” in 2026 than it was in 2023, pointing to a thesis he says has been eroding for years.

His bearish take drew rebuttals from some members of the community. Meanwhile, on-chain activity and technical indicators elsewhere on the network flash bullish signals.

Ansem Lists Cracks in the ETH Thesis

Ansem argues that Solana (SOL) has dominated retail activity this cycle. Hyperliquid has taken the lead in perpetual futures trading, while rollups have failed to gain traction.

He also noted that Vitalik Buterin “publicly abandoned” the general-use rollup thesis. The ongoing Aave (AAVE) situation around the KelpDAO rsETH exploit, Ansem said, is a mark on  Ethereum’s core value proposition of “safety + security of defi & insto interest.

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“ETH thesis has been weakening consistently for years,” the analyst wrote. ETH in 2026 is in a worse spot than it was in 2023, amplified by AI doing extremely well & tech stocks being much more favorable investments with real revenues / emerging narratives / increasing momentum, ETH is a $300B asset with a ton of overhang from Tom Lee topblasting + complacent ETH holders sitting idle in defi protocols.”

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Technically, the analyst noted that ETH remains in a sustained downtrend after failing to break multi-year resistance. He projected that the second-largest cryptocurrency could slip to 2025 lows near $1,300 and to the bear-market lows from 2022.

“Tight invalidation 2377 assuming problems worsen if you want to play it loose assuming other risk assets continues doing well & drags it up probably somewhere around 2700/2800 invalidation fundamentals wise would want to see breakout activity from some new vertical,” the post read.

Ethereum Price Prediction
Ethereum Price Prediction. Source: X/Ansem

Community Members Push Back

The take triggered notable pushback. Ryan Berckmans accused Ansem of not understanding fundamentals. Leo Lanza went further, sharply dismissing the analyst’s bearish case on X.

Another user pointed to a 56% drop in the SOL/ETH pair this cycle.

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“Soleth is down 56% after being up 12x+ *this cycle* because one guy decided to buy 5% of the eth supply after it had underperformed all cycle. idk why you guys act like i dont also bearpost solana i havent posted anything bullish about sol in over a year,” Ansem replied.

Not everyone shares the bearish view on Ethereum. BeInCrypto recently highlighted that network activity remains strong, while technical indicators like the Rainbow Chart and MACD are also flashing bullish signals.

With macro and geopolitical uncertainty still in play, the question is whether ETH slides further this year or stages a renewed rally.

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The post Ansem Says Ethereum Is in a Worse Spot Than 2023 as Thesis Weakens appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Aave’s TVL Falls $8B After $293M Kelp DAO Hack

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Aave’s TVL Falls $8B After $293M Kelp DAO Hack

Total value locked on decentralized lending protocol Aave dropped by nearly $8 billion over the weekend after hackers behind the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit borrowed funds on Aave, leaving roughly $195 million in “bad debt” on the protocol and triggering withdrawals.

Data from DeFiLlama shows that Aave’s TVL fell from about $26.4 billion to $18.6 billion by Sunday, losing the top spot as the largest DeFi protocol. 

Aave v3’s lending pools for USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC) are now at 100% utilization, meaning that more than $5.1 billion worth of stablecoins cannot be withdrawn until new liquidity arrives or borrows are repaid. 

$2,540 is available to be withdrawn from the $2.87 billion USDT pool on Aave v3 at the time of writing. Source: Aave

Aave’s TVL fall shows how rapidly risk from a single security incident can spread throughout the broader, interconnected DeFi lending market, potentially leading to a severe liquidity crisis.

The incident began on Saturday when hackers stole 116,500 Kelp DAO Restaked ETH (rsETH) tokens worth about $293 million from Kelp DAO’s LayerZero-powered bridge and used them as collateral on Aave v3 to borrow wrapped Ether (wETH).

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Crypto analytics platform Lookonchain said the move created about $195 million in “bad debt” on Aave, which contributed to the Aave (AAVE) token tanking nearly 20% from $112 on Saturday at 6:00 pm UTC to $89.5 about 25 hours later. 

Lookonchain noted that some of the largest crypto whales to withdraw funds from Aave were the MEXC crypto exchange and Abraxas Capital at $431 million and $392 million, respectively.

Source: Grvt

Several crypto networks and protocols tied to rsETH or the LayerZero bridge have paused use of the bridge until the problem is resolved, including DeFi platform Curve Finance, stablecoin issuer Ethena and BitGo’s Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC).

Aave has frozen several rsETH, wETH markets

Shortly after the Kelp DAO exploit, Aave said it froze the rsETH markets on both Aave v3 and v4 to prevent any suspicious borrowing and later stated that rsETH on Ethereum mainnet remains fully backed by underlying assets.

WETH reserves also remain frozen on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Mantle and Linea, Aave said.

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This incident marks the first significant stress test of Aave’s “Umbrella” security model, which was introduced in June 2025 to provide automated protection against protocol bad debt while enabling users to earn rewards.

Related: Aave DAO backs V4 mainnet plan in near-unanimous vote

Earlier this month, the Bank of Canada found that Aave avoided bad debt in its v3 market by using overcollateralization, automated liquidations and other strategies that shifted risk to borrowers.

In comments to Cointelegraph, Aave defended its liquidation-based model, framing it as a core safety mechanism that protects lenders while limiting downside for borrowers.

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It comes as Aave parted ways with its longest-standing DeFi risk service provider, Chaos Labs, on April 6, following disagreements over the direction of Aave v4 and budget constraints.

Magazine: Are DeFi devs liable for the illegal activity of others on their platforms?