MARA Holdings has entered a strategic agreement with Starwood Capital Group and its data center platform Starwood Digital Ventures (SDV) to convert and expand select MARA sites into next-generation digital infrastructure for enterprise, hyperscale, and AI customers.
The companies say the joint platform is expected to deliver about 1 GW of near-term IT capacity, with a pathway to more than 2.5 GW as projects scale.
A joint platform to turn “power certainty” into “capacity certainty”
Under the partnership, MARA and Starwood plan to jointly develop, finance, and operate digital infrastructure projects across MARA’s “power-rich” portfolio. SDV will lead design, development, tenant sourcing, construction, and facility operations, while MARA contributes sites positioned for energy availability and scale.
MARA CEO Fred Thiel said the goal is to convert predictable energy access into dependable data center capacity, positioning the partnership as a more capital-efficient way to build out infrastructure across MARA’s portfolio.
Sites will be designed to support both Bitcoin mining and AI compute
A key operational detail: the companies say the prioritized campuses will be designed to run both Bitcoin mining and AI compute, giving MARA flexibility to “toggle” workloads depending on market pricing and customer demand. The same pivot toward HPC/AI-style infrastructure is also playing out in MARA’s European footprint via the Exaion transaction, which is structured around high-performance computing and secure cloud services
The partnership says it will prioritize locations with low-cost energy, strong interconnection positions, and clear pathways to scale—a signal that the buildout is meant to be industrial-grade, not a one-off pilot.
Starwood’s data center build engine is the delivery layer
Starwood Capital CEO Barry Sternlicht framed data centers as core modern-economy infrastructure and said the partnership expands Starwood’s data center investment opportunities. SDV CEO Anthony Balestrieri added that SDV will focus on delivering scale and performance “with an emphasis on community-conscious infrastructure.”
MARA also included background metrics on Starwood and SDV, highlighting Starwood’s scale (over $125B AUM) and SDV’s team (94 people) with experience across more than 10 GW of data center work.
Advisors and structure
MARA said JLL and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP are serving as its strategic and legal advisors, respectively, for the transaction.
The release does not disclose project-level economics, funding structure details, or which specific MARA sites are included at this stage.
Why it matters for crypto
- Miners are increasingly repurposing “power + sites” into AI/HPC infrastructure, tightening the link between crypto mining and data centers.
- The 1 GW near-term target is meaningful scale for compute, and a clear step beyond pilot-sized AI initiatives.
- Designing sites to run both mining and AI compute creates optionality: revenue can shift with cycles rather than being locked to one workload.
- If successful, it could become a template for capital-efficient upgrades of existing mining infrastructure into AI-ready capacity.
What to watch next
- Which specific MARA sites are selected first and whether timelines are provided for initial conversions and tenant delivery.
- Any announced hyperscale/enterprise customer commitments (tenant names, contract terms, pre-leasing).
- Project-level financing details and how capex is shared between MARA and Starwood/SDV.
- Signals that “toggle” capability is operational in practice (not just a design goal).
- Updates that move the plan from near-term 1 GW toward the stated 2.5+ GW pathway.
Source: MARA Holdings Press Release