The Digital Gold Rush: How Much Water Does Bitcoin Mining Actually Use?
How Much Water Does the Digital World Drink?
Data centers consume substantial quantities of water to cool their servers. In 2023 alone, data centers in the United States directly consumed about 17.4 billion gallons of water, equivalent to the annual water use of approximately 159,000 American families. This figure is roughly triple the water used by U.S. data centers in 2014, reflecting the industry’s rapid growth. In fact, data centers now rank among the country's top 10 water-consuming industrial or commercial industries. And the demand is only climbing: annual water use by U.S. data centers could double by 2028 if current trends continue, largely due to surging cloud computing and AI workloads.
Water usage in data centers can vary significantly based on the size and cooling method employed, but hyperscale facilities relying on evaporative cooling, the most common method today, can withdraw between 1 and 5 million gallons per day, up to 1.8 billion gallons annually per facility. These evaporative systems strain local resources, especially in water-scarce regions. While data centers use water to cool digital applications, another sector has long used it to process physical value: gold mining.
Gold Mining's Toll on Water Resources
Gold has long been trusted as a reliable store of value, yet its extraction comes with significant environmental costs, particularly regarding water usage. Recent estimates indicate that the global gold mining sector consumed 2 billion cubic meters (over 528 billion gallons) in 2020, equal to the annual water consumption of approximately 4.8 million American families.
Individual large surface gold mines can consume between 16 and 26 million gallons of water each day or up to 9.5 billion gallons every year. This usage plays a critical role throughout the gold mining process: water suppresses dust, transports ore, and forms the chemical slurry used for processing and refinement. These processes not only consume large volumes of water but also pose contamination risks, introducing hazardous substances like arsenic, cyanide, lead, cadmium, and chromium into surrounding ecosystems.
Given these substantial water demands, gold mining's attractiveness as a sustainable store of value is called into question, particularly as digital alternatives like bitcoin offer more resource-efficient solutions.
Bitcoin Mining's Minimal Water Footprint
Often referred to as digital gold, bitcoin represents a store of value for the modern age. However, unlike gold mining, Bitcoin mining doesn’t require massive excavation or chemical refinement. Instead, bitcoin is digitally minted using computational power. While some miners leverage evaporative cooling to keep their equipment efficient, most facilities use much less water intensive cooling methods:
Air cooling: These systems remain the most widely used method in the Bitcoin mining industry. High-speed fans move air over hardware, carrying heat away without any water.
Direct-to-chip cooling: More efficient than air cooling, these systems utilize closed-loop water systems that significantly limit evaporation and fluid loss.
Immersion cooling: An advanced method rapidly gaining traction, where hardware is submerged in nonconductive fluid, allowing efficient heat dissipation within a sealed system, with zero-water usage.
How Much Water Does the Digital World Drink?
Data centers consume substantial quantities of water to cool their servers. In 2023 alone, data centers in the United States directly consumed about 17.4 billion gallons of water, equivalent to the annual water use of approximately 159,000 American families. This figure is roughly triple the water used by U.S. data centers in 2014, reflecting the industry’s rapid growth. In fact, data centers now rank among the country's top 10 water-consuming industrial or commercial industries. And the demand is only climbing: annual water use by U.S. data centers could double by 2028 if current trends continue, largely due to surging cloud computing and AI workloads.
Water usage in data centers can vary significantly based on the size and cooling method employed, but hyperscale facilities relying on evaporative cooling, the most common method today, can withdraw between 1 and 5 million gallons per day, up to 1.8 billion gallons annually per facility. These evaporative systems strain local resources, especially in water-scarce regions. While data centers use water to cool digital applications, another sector has long used it to process physical value: gold mining.
Gold Mining's Toll on Water Resources
Gold has long been trusted as a reliable store of value, yet its extraction comes with significant environmental costs, particularly regarding water usage. Recent estimates indicate that the global gold mining sector consumed 2 billion cubic meters (over 528 billion gallons) in 2020, equal to the annual water consumption of approximately 4.8 million American families.
Individual large surface gold mines can consume between 16 and 26 million gallons of water each day or up to 9.5 billion gallons every year. This usage plays a critical role throughout the gold mining process: water suppresses dust, transports ore, and forms the chemical slurry used for processing and refinement. These processes not only consume large volumes of water but also pose contamination risks, introducing hazardous substances like arsenic, cyanide, lead, cadmium, and chromium into surrounding ecosystems.
Given these substantial water demands, gold mining's attractiveness as a sustainable store of value is called into question, particularly as digital alternatives like bitcoin offer more resource-efficient solutions.
Bitcoin Mining's Minimal Water Footprint
Often referred to as digital gold, bitcoin represents a store of value for the modern age. However, unlike gold mining, Bitcoin mining doesn’t require massive excavation or chemical refinement. Instead, bitcoin is digitally minted using computational power. While some miners leverage evaporative cooling to keep their equipment efficient, most facilities use much less water intensive cooling methods:
Air cooling: These systems remain the most widely used method in the Bitcoin mining industry. High-speed fans move air over hardware, carrying heat away without any water.
Direct-to-chip cooling: More efficient than air cooling, these systems utilize closed-loop water systems that significantly limit evaporation and fluid loss.
Immersion cooling: An advanced method rapidly gaining traction, where hardware is submerged in nonconductive fluid, allowing efficient heat dissipation within a sealed system, with zero-water usage.
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Why the U.S. Needs a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Today
Until recently, bitcoin was predominantly held by individuals and institutions, but today, governments are beginning to stake their claim. Earlier this year, President Trump made headlines by signing an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). At the 2025 Bitcoin Conference, Fred Thiel of MARA, Matt Pines of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, and Matthew Sigal of VanEck dove into the purpose, urgency, and strategy of the SBR, revealing how bitcoin could transform the future of U.S. financial policy.
https://youtu.be/uGFNrmDE8Xw
Until recently, bitcoin was predominantly held by individuals and institutions, but today, governments are beginning to stake their claim. Earlier this year, President Trump made headlines by signing an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). At the 2025 Bitcoin Conference, Fred Thiel of MARA, Matt Pines of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, and Matthew Sigal of VanEck dove into the purpose, urgency, and strategy of the SBR, revealing how bitcoin could transform the future of U.S. financial policy.
https://youtu.be/uGFNrmDE8Xw
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Framing Success: How Big 50,000 Bitcoin Really Is
MARA has reached a significant milestone, now holding over 50,000 bitcoin in its treasury. This achievement is the result of the company's long-term HODL strategy, complimented by two accumulation strategies or what MARA refers to as its "twin turbo": mining bitcoin and purchasing it in the open market.
With a powerful mining engine and disciplined capital allocation, MARA is not only one of the largest public Bitcoin miners (controlling around 5% of the Bitcoin network hashrate at the time of writing) but also the largest holder of bitcoin among public miners. In fact, MARA holds more bitcoin than the next five largest public miners combined, a testament to the scale and consistency of its accumulation strategy. To put that into perspective, if a miner today maintained 5% of the network hashrate, it would take over 12 years for them to accumulate 50,000 bitcoin.
MARA has reached a significant milestone, now holding over 50,000 bitcoin in its treasury. This achievement is the result of the company's long-term HODL strategy, complimented by two accumulation strategies or what MARA refers to as its "twin turbo": mining bitcoin and purchasing it in the open market.
With a powerful mining engine and disciplined capital allocation, MARA is not only one of the largest public Bitcoin miners (controlling around 5% of the Bitcoin network hashrate at the time of writing) but also the largest holder of bitcoin among public miners. In fact, MARA holds more bitcoin than the next five largest public miners combined, a testament to the scale and consistency of its accumulation strategy. To put that into perspective, if a miner today maintained 5% of the network hashrate, it would take over 12 years for them to accumulate 50,000 bitcoin.
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Why I Joined MARA - Nir Rikovitch
Throughout my career, and most recently at John Deere, I have had the privilege of working on technologies that sit close to the bedrock of society; building sustainable, intelligent systems to feed and shelter communities around the world. From logistics and precision agriculture to autonomous construction, I learned how deeply we all depend on the responsible use of natural resources.
But over time, something became increasingly clear: even before we automate the means of production, we must grapple with the scarcity of energy itself. Every digital advancement, whether in AI, autonomy, or robotics, is powered by a fundamental, often invisible layer: energy transformed into motion and compute. Unless we build systems that treat energy as a precious, orchestrated resource, we risk building a future that can’t sustain itself. That realization led me to MARA.
MARA began with a deep focus on energy systems. Its core DNA is built around infrastructure capable of converting energy into digital capital at scale. But the company’s most compelling asset isn’t its energy footprint, it’s the potential to deploy energy where it matters most.
We’re entering an era where compute is a limiting factor for progress. AI is no longer confined to labs or tech giants, it’s becoming the backbone of our infrastructure, logistics, manufacturing, and more. The technology to support this shift must be energy-aware, cost-effective, globally distributed, and responsibly managed.
That’s what MARA is building: technology where energy is not wasted, but is instead purposeful, scalable, and intelligent.
The Product Opportunity
I joined MARA to build the company’s product discipline from the ground up, bridging engineering, strategy, and commercialization. As Chief Product Officer, I’ll be working to:
Translate core infrastructure into intelligent offerings
Define the roadmap for MARA’s products
Lead engineering to deliver production-grade systems to the market
This isn’t just about building tools. It’s moving from power to purpose.
Throughout my career, and most recently at John Deere, I have had the privilege of working on technologies that sit close to the bedrock of society; building sustainable, intelligent systems to feed and shelter communities around the world. From logistics and precision agriculture to autonomous construction, I learned how deeply we all depend on the responsible use of natural resources.
But over time, something became increasingly clear: even before we automate the means of production, we must grapple with the scarcity of energy itself. Every digital advancement, whether in AI, autonomy, or robotics, is powered by a fundamental, often invisible layer: energy transformed into motion and compute. Unless we build systems that treat energy as a precious, orchestrated resource, we risk building a future that can’t sustain itself. That realization led me to MARA.
MARA began with a deep focus on energy systems. Its core DNA is built around infrastructure capable of converting energy into digital capital at scale. But the company’s most compelling asset isn’t its energy footprint, it’s the potential to deploy energy where it matters most.
We’re entering an era where compute is a limiting factor for progress. AI is no longer confined to labs or tech giants, it’s becoming the backbone of our infrastructure, logistics, manufacturing, and more. The technology to support this shift must be energy-aware, cost-effective, globally distributed, and responsibly managed.
That’s what MARA is building: technology where energy is not wasted, but is instead purposeful, scalable, and intelligent.
The Product Opportunity
I joined MARA to build the company’s product discipline from the ground up, bridging engineering, strategy, and commercialization. As Chief Product Officer, I’ll be working to:
Translate core infrastructure into intelligent offerings
Define the roadmap for MARA’s products
Lead engineering to deliver production-grade systems to the market
This isn’t just about building tools. It’s moving from power to purpose.
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Fred Thiel at the Hill Nation Summit: Bitcoin, National Security & U.S. Energy Policy
https://youtu.be/ENbf2lub_fc
https://youtu.be/ENbf2lub_fc
YouTube
Fred Thiel, CEO of MARA, at the Hill Nation Summit: Bitcoin, National Security & U.S. Energy Policy
In this exclusive interview at the Hill Nation Summit, Fred Thiel, Chairman & CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings (@MARAHoldingsInc), explains why Bitcoin mining is vital to U.S. national security, how America is leading in crypto regulation, and why flexible…
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MARA Fireside: Rajiv Khemani - Auradine, Bitcoin Mining & Silicon Valley Mindset。
In this fireside chat, MARA CEO Fred Thiel speaks with Rajiv Khemani, co-founder of Auradine, about the intersection of Bitcoin mining, advanced technology, and the Silicon Valley mindset. Khemani, a veteran technology entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience, describes how Auradine brings Silicon Valley innovation to the Bitcoin mining industry. Traditionally viewed as a less technologically advanced sector, Bitcoin mining is now undergoing a transformation, driven by new ideas in energy optimization, heat reuse, and industrial-scale technology.
Auradine, co-founded by Khemani after successful ventures in networking, mobile e-commerce, and cloud infrastructure, entered Bitcoin mining to address the industry's challenges, such as energy efficiency and reliance on Chinese technology. The partnership between MARA and Auradine is particularly notable because it involves co-developing technology tailored to MARA's specific operational needs, including advanced immersion cooling systems and highly efficient, dynamically adjustable chips.
Khemani explains how Auradine has tackled complex technical problems such as rapid, granular energy tuning and immersion cooling, innovations essential for optimizing energy use and operating in extreme environmental conditions. This collaboration has not only elevated Auradine's offerings in Bitcoin mining but has also spun off pioneering technologies into separate companies focusing on AI-driven security (AuraScape) and open-standard AI networking solutions (AuraLinks AI).
The conversation emphasizes Auradine's strategic role in providing an American alternative to dominant Chinese suppliers, which is important for both decentralizing the Bitcoin mining ecosystem and addressing national security concerns. With the backing of prominent Silicon Valley investors like Mayfield, Qualcomm, and Samsung, Auradine continues to push the industry forward, enabling MARA to expand its global Bitcoin mining operations and create new opportunities in the evolving sectors of digital energy and AI.
https://youtu.be/tsS3w5BYcEs
In this fireside chat, MARA CEO Fred Thiel speaks with Rajiv Khemani, co-founder of Auradine, about the intersection of Bitcoin mining, advanced technology, and the Silicon Valley mindset. Khemani, a veteran technology entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience, describes how Auradine brings Silicon Valley innovation to the Bitcoin mining industry. Traditionally viewed as a less technologically advanced sector, Bitcoin mining is now undergoing a transformation, driven by new ideas in energy optimization, heat reuse, and industrial-scale technology.
Auradine, co-founded by Khemani after successful ventures in networking, mobile e-commerce, and cloud infrastructure, entered Bitcoin mining to address the industry's challenges, such as energy efficiency and reliance on Chinese technology. The partnership between MARA and Auradine is particularly notable because it involves co-developing technology tailored to MARA's specific operational needs, including advanced immersion cooling systems and highly efficient, dynamically adjustable chips.
Khemani explains how Auradine has tackled complex technical problems such as rapid, granular energy tuning and immersion cooling, innovations essential for optimizing energy use and operating in extreme environmental conditions. This collaboration has not only elevated Auradine's offerings in Bitcoin mining but has also spun off pioneering technologies into separate companies focusing on AI-driven security (AuraScape) and open-standard AI networking solutions (AuraLinks AI).
The conversation emphasizes Auradine's strategic role in providing an American alternative to dominant Chinese suppliers, which is important for both decentralizing the Bitcoin mining ecosystem and addressing national security concerns. With the backing of prominent Silicon Valley investors like Mayfield, Qualcomm, and Samsung, Auradine continues to push the industry forward, enabling MARA to expand its global Bitcoin mining operations and create new opportunities in the evolving sectors of digital energy and AI.
https://youtu.be/tsS3w5BYcEs
YouTube
MARA Fireside: Rajiv Khemani - Auradine, Bitcoin Mining & Silicon Valley Mindset
MARA CEO Fred Thiel and @auradine_inc CEO Rajiv Khemani discuss their partnership and how Silicon Valley technologies are shaping Bitcoin mining and beyond.
0:00 Intro
1:14 Rajiv’s Background
3:01 Founding Auradine
4:47 MARA x Auradine Partnership
7:28 Co…
0:00 Intro
1:14 Rajiv’s Background
3:01 Founding Auradine
4:47 MARA x Auradine Partnership
7:28 Co…
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Why I Joined MARA - François Garcin
I have spent my career building and scaling businesses where capital meets impact. For almost twenty years, as founder and CEO of Argenthal, I worked with teams and partners to invest in solutions to some of the biggest challenges in financial services, energy, and healthcare. Along the way, I had the chance to support projects ranging from renewable power and energy transition initiatives to AI-enabled healthcare platforms, cybersecurity, fintech, and blockchain-based identity systems. What I learned through all of this is simple but powerful: real progress depends on trustworthy data and efficient energy.
Over time, I began to see that energy, secure information systems, and digital finance are not separate worlds. They are parts of a single continuum, and advanced computing is what brings them together. That perspective changed how I thought about technology and its role in shaping the future. It also led me to bitcoin. To me, bitcoin is not just a digital currency. It is a system that ties energy markets directly to the digital economy.
That insight is what ultimately brought me to MARA. While the company started with Bitcoin mining, what excites me is its much bigger vision. MARA is using its technology to help stabilize power grids and capture and repurpose unused energy. We are also developing new solutions that can lower the cost of AI processing and secure the edge infrastructure that will support the AI economy. It is this combination of ambition and practicality that drew me in.
As General Manager of Europe, I am focused on helping MARA expand its presence across the region. My work is about building partnerships, with corporate leaders, sovereign investors, entrepreneurs, and regulators, that will advance our mission and extend our impact. At the heart of it all is a belief I hold deeply: energy can be transformed into intelligence, and with the right vision, into long-term value for people everywhere.
I have spent my career building and scaling businesses where capital meets impact. For almost twenty years, as founder and CEO of Argenthal, I worked with teams and partners to invest in solutions to some of the biggest challenges in financial services, energy, and healthcare. Along the way, I had the chance to support projects ranging from renewable power and energy transition initiatives to AI-enabled healthcare platforms, cybersecurity, fintech, and blockchain-based identity systems. What I learned through all of this is simple but powerful: real progress depends on trustworthy data and efficient energy.
Over time, I began to see that energy, secure information systems, and digital finance are not separate worlds. They are parts of a single continuum, and advanced computing is what brings them together. That perspective changed how I thought about technology and its role in shaping the future. It also led me to bitcoin. To me, bitcoin is not just a digital currency. It is a system that ties energy markets directly to the digital economy.
That insight is what ultimately brought me to MARA. While the company started with Bitcoin mining, what excites me is its much bigger vision. MARA is using its technology to help stabilize power grids and capture and repurpose unused energy. We are also developing new solutions that can lower the cost of AI processing and secure the edge infrastructure that will support the AI economy. It is this combination of ambition and practicality that drew me in.
As General Manager of Europe, I am focused on helping MARA expand its presence across the region. My work is about building partnerships, with corporate leaders, sovereign investors, entrepreneurs, and regulators, that will advance our mission and extend our impact. At the heart of it all is a belief I hold deeply: energy can be transformed into intelligence, and with the right vision, into long-term value for people everywhere.
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Unlocking Abundance in the Age of Bitcoin: A New Architecture for Energy & Finance
At the Future Investment Initiative (FII) 9th edition 2025, global leaders will gather to address the paradoxes that define this era: the Paradox of Progress, the Paradox of Innovation, and the Paradox of Fragmentation — where growth produces waste, technological advancement strains resources, and globalization weakens cooperation. These paradoxes highlight a central reality: abundance by itself is not enough. Without effective mechanisms to channel it, abundance can lead to inefficiency, instability, and division.
The Paradox of Progress
Globally, more electricity is generated than ever, driving economic growth. Yet much of this abundance is underutilized. Without adequate infrastructure, as much as 2,000 TWh of renewable output could be lost to curtailment and connection delays by 2030, almost half of the electricity consumed in the U.S. in 2024. Similarly, over 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas was flared in 2024, comparable to the annual emissions of 91 million gas-powered cars. Excess energy surrounds us, but without tools, markets, and infrastructure to capture it, progress paradoxically leads to waste.
The Paradox of Innovation
Advancements in AI are already impacting productivity. A recent survey showed that 67% of respondents saved two or more hours of work per week by leveraging generative AI. Yet these boosts in productivity do not come without a cost. AI data centers create rigid and rapidly growing demands for fiber, water, and energy. McKinsey projects that AI data center power demand could grow by three and a half times by 2030. As this strain on the grid grows, so too does the need for technologies that absorb inefficiencies within existing infrastructure.
The Paradox of Fragmentation
For decades, globalization has bound economies closer together, facilitating unprecedented economic growth, trade, and opportunity. Yet today, increased geopolitical tension has fractured commerce and constrained access to capital. Nearly one-third of all nations now live under sanctions, underscoring how factors that once enabled global integration are now driving fragmentation. To prevent further fragmentation, markets may increasingly look to assets like bitcoin for secure financial infrastructure.
Across energy, technology, and finance, these paradoxes converge on a single theme: abundance is not sufficient on its own. Increased electricity production creates excess energy when it cannot reach markets. Technological advancements intensify demand for resources. And without open financial infrastructure, abundance risks dividing economies instead of uniting them.
Bitcoin mining offers one potential path forward. It can turn excess energy into value, create stability with increased adoption, and provide decentralized financial infrastructure for a resilient asset. This report examines how Bitcoin mining is applied in practice, from North American wind farms and oilfields to Finnish communities and Emirati energy projects. By turning excess energy into digital capital, volatility into resilience, and fragmentation into inclusion, Bitcoin mining illustrates how today’s paradoxes can be reframed as opportunities.
At the Future Investment Initiative (FII) 9th edition 2025, global leaders will gather to address the paradoxes that define this era: the Paradox of Progress, the Paradox of Innovation, and the Paradox of Fragmentation — where growth produces waste, technological advancement strains resources, and globalization weakens cooperation. These paradoxes highlight a central reality: abundance by itself is not enough. Without effective mechanisms to channel it, abundance can lead to inefficiency, instability, and division.
The Paradox of Progress
Globally, more electricity is generated than ever, driving economic growth. Yet much of this abundance is underutilized. Without adequate infrastructure, as much as 2,000 TWh of renewable output could be lost to curtailment and connection delays by 2030, almost half of the electricity consumed in the U.S. in 2024. Similarly, over 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas was flared in 2024, comparable to the annual emissions of 91 million gas-powered cars. Excess energy surrounds us, but without tools, markets, and infrastructure to capture it, progress paradoxically leads to waste.
The Paradox of Innovation
Advancements in AI are already impacting productivity. A recent survey showed that 67% of respondents saved two or more hours of work per week by leveraging generative AI. Yet these boosts in productivity do not come without a cost. AI data centers create rigid and rapidly growing demands for fiber, water, and energy. McKinsey projects that AI data center power demand could grow by three and a half times by 2030. As this strain on the grid grows, so too does the need for technologies that absorb inefficiencies within existing infrastructure.
The Paradox of Fragmentation
For decades, globalization has bound economies closer together, facilitating unprecedented economic growth, trade, and opportunity. Yet today, increased geopolitical tension has fractured commerce and constrained access to capital. Nearly one-third of all nations now live under sanctions, underscoring how factors that once enabled global integration are now driving fragmentation. To prevent further fragmentation, markets may increasingly look to assets like bitcoin for secure financial infrastructure.
Across energy, technology, and finance, these paradoxes converge on a single theme: abundance is not sufficient on its own. Increased electricity production creates excess energy when it cannot reach markets. Technological advancements intensify demand for resources. And without open financial infrastructure, abundance risks dividing economies instead of uniting them.
Bitcoin mining offers one potential path forward. It can turn excess energy into value, create stability with increased adoption, and provide decentralized financial infrastructure for a resilient asset. This report examines how Bitcoin mining is applied in practice, from North American wind farms and oilfields to Finnish communities and Emirati energy projects. By turning excess energy into digital capital, volatility into resilience, and fragmentation into inclusion, Bitcoin mining illustrates how today’s paradoxes can be reframed as opportunities.
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MARA’s Inaugural Government Summit: Powering the Future of Bitcoin, AI, & Energy
https://youtu.be/UZ3YmJYvCuE
https://youtu.be/UZ3YmJYvCuE
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At the end of October, the Future Investment Initiative (FII) 9th Edition in Riyadh gathered global leaders in energy, finance, and technology under the theme “The Key to Prosperity”. This edition was the largest gathering yet, drawing thousands of leaders from around the world and building on the $250 billion in deals closed through the FII platform since its inception less than a decade ago. This year’s theme centered on three paradoxes shaping the world’s future: Progress, Innovation, and Fragmentation. Each one reveals a tension between abundance and limitation:
The Paradox of Progress: The world generates more energy than ever before, yet large amounts of power are underutilized because it can’t reach demand.
The Paradox of Innovation: Technology promises efficiency, yet new breakthroughs like AI demand vast resources creating new pressures on infrastructure.
The Paradox of Fragmentation: Globalization has connected the world, but rising geopolitical divisions threaten to break that same connectivity apart.
As a Strategic Partner, MARA joined the global dialogue to share a practical vision for addressing these paradoxes: digital energy — using flexible compute to turn underutilized energy into value, build grid resilience, and generate digital capital the world can trust.
MARA’s Chairman and CEO, Fred Thiel, participated in panels, private meetings, and roundtables to share how MARA’s approach helps countries and companies turn energy into intellegence, resilience, and opportunity.
Power Infrastructure Meets Compute at the Edge
Joining Aramco’s EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development Ashraf A. Al Ghazzawi, Fred Thiel explored how AI and data centers are reshaping electricity demand and what it means for global energy markets.
“The biggest challenge is not building generation — it’s building transmission. Getting electricity from the generator to the load is the biggest problem [in the energy sector] globally.” - Fred Thiel
He explained how on-site flexible loads, like MARA’s data centers, can alleviate these constraints. By locating data centers near generation, MARA utilizes energy that would otherwise go unused, helping reduce grid congestion and balance power supply and demand.
Fred also highlighted how AI inference, the type of AI that drives real-world results, has many applications at the edge. Establishing AI closer to where the decisions are made reduces latency, secures sensitive data, and enables more efficient use of remote energy assets.
Saudi Arabia, he noted, is uniquely positioned for this new model: abundant energy, ample land, and a long-term plan under Vision 2030 make it a natural hub for low-cost compute and secure AI infrastructure.
Watch the panel: What Will Determine the Future of Energy Demand?
The Next Era of Energy Security
On a second panel, Fred joined global leaders in energy and technology to discuss how industries can meet rising power demands from AI, digitalization, and industrial growth. He highlighted how MARA’s flexible data centers enable grid operators to plan more effectively by increasing demand when power is abundant and scaling down when it’s constrained.
Fred also pointed to a Duke University study showing that if AI workloads were designed to be more flexible, existing U.S. power capacity could already meet most of the projected increase in demand over the coming years. The findings reinforce MARA’s view that the challenge isn’t energy scarcity, but coordination and that intelligent, flexible compute can unlock capacity already available within today’s grids.
In his interview with FII TV, Fred expanded on how Bitcoin mining can bring this flexibility to AI. Data centers running AI inference typically have rigid power requirements, whereas mining can dynamically adjust power use. When combined, the two workloads can create a grid-responsive platform helping ensure that no available energy goes to waste and that the grid remains stable even as AI demand fluctuates.
Watch the panel: Is Innovation Enough to Secure Energy for High-Stakes Sectors?
The Paradox of Progress: The world generates more energy than ever before, yet large amounts of power are underutilized because it can’t reach demand.
The Paradox of Innovation: Technology promises efficiency, yet new breakthroughs like AI demand vast resources creating new pressures on infrastructure.
The Paradox of Fragmentation: Globalization has connected the world, but rising geopolitical divisions threaten to break that same connectivity apart.
As a Strategic Partner, MARA joined the global dialogue to share a practical vision for addressing these paradoxes: digital energy — using flexible compute to turn underutilized energy into value, build grid resilience, and generate digital capital the world can trust.
MARA’s Chairman and CEO, Fred Thiel, participated in panels, private meetings, and roundtables to share how MARA’s approach helps countries and companies turn energy into intellegence, resilience, and opportunity.
Power Infrastructure Meets Compute at the Edge
Joining Aramco’s EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development Ashraf A. Al Ghazzawi, Fred Thiel explored how AI and data centers are reshaping electricity demand and what it means for global energy markets.
“The biggest challenge is not building generation — it’s building transmission. Getting electricity from the generator to the load is the biggest problem [in the energy sector] globally.” - Fred Thiel
He explained how on-site flexible loads, like MARA’s data centers, can alleviate these constraints. By locating data centers near generation, MARA utilizes energy that would otherwise go unused, helping reduce grid congestion and balance power supply and demand.
Fred also highlighted how AI inference, the type of AI that drives real-world results, has many applications at the edge. Establishing AI closer to where the decisions are made reduces latency, secures sensitive data, and enables more efficient use of remote energy assets.
Saudi Arabia, he noted, is uniquely positioned for this new model: abundant energy, ample land, and a long-term plan under Vision 2030 make it a natural hub for low-cost compute and secure AI infrastructure.
Watch the panel: What Will Determine the Future of Energy Demand?
The Next Era of Energy Security
On a second panel, Fred joined global leaders in energy and technology to discuss how industries can meet rising power demands from AI, digitalization, and industrial growth. He highlighted how MARA’s flexible data centers enable grid operators to plan more effectively by increasing demand when power is abundant and scaling down when it’s constrained.
Fred also pointed to a Duke University study showing that if AI workloads were designed to be more flexible, existing U.S. power capacity could already meet most of the projected increase in demand over the coming years. The findings reinforce MARA’s view that the challenge isn’t energy scarcity, but coordination and that intelligent, flexible compute can unlock capacity already available within today’s grids.
In his interview with FII TV, Fred expanded on how Bitcoin mining can bring this flexibility to AI. Data centers running AI inference typically have rigid power requirements, whereas mining can dynamically adjust power use. When combined, the two workloads can create a grid-responsive platform helping ensure that no available energy goes to waste and that the grid remains stable even as AI demand fluctuates.
Watch the panel: Is Innovation Enough to Secure Energy for High-Stakes Sectors?
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MARA’s Booth: Addressing the Three Paradoxes
Throughout FII9, MARA’s booth served as an extension of the conversations happening on stage. Attendees, from energy executives to financiers and investors, explored how MARA’s model directly addresses the three paradoxes at the heart of FII:
Progress: By transforming wasted and stranded energy into productive digital infrastructure, MARA turns excess into value.
Innovation: By integrating AI and Bitcoin mining, MARA creates smarter, adaptive systems that help grids handle surging demand.
Fragmentation: By contributing to the Bitcoin network, MARA helps secure decentralized digital capital in an increasingly divided world.
Visitors engaged with recent MARA reports, including the 2024 Social Responsibility Report and the FII Flagship Report: Unlocking Abundance in the Age of Bitcoin, which outlines how MARA’s work reframes each paradox as an opportunity.
These materials showcase the company’s global projects, ranging from wind farms in Texas to district heating in Finland and data centers in the UAE, illustrating how digital energy can enhance the resilience of energy infrastructure.
From Paradox to Possibility
Throughout the week, one theme was clear: the future of energy isn’t just about producing more, it’s about using what we already have more intelligently.
From panels and roundtables to the booth floor, MARA explored how digital energy can unlock both abundance and stability simultaneously. The company left Riyadh with a shared sense of purpose with peers across energy, technology, and policy to power the future responsibly, efficiently, and intelligently.
Throughout FII9, MARA’s booth served as an extension of the conversations happening on stage. Attendees, from energy executives to financiers and investors, explored how MARA’s model directly addresses the three paradoxes at the heart of FII:
Progress: By transforming wasted and stranded energy into productive digital infrastructure, MARA turns excess into value.
Innovation: By integrating AI and Bitcoin mining, MARA creates smarter, adaptive systems that help grids handle surging demand.
Fragmentation: By contributing to the Bitcoin network, MARA helps secure decentralized digital capital in an increasingly divided world.
Visitors engaged with recent MARA reports, including the 2024 Social Responsibility Report and the FII Flagship Report: Unlocking Abundance in the Age of Bitcoin, which outlines how MARA’s work reframes each paradox as an opportunity.
These materials showcase the company’s global projects, ranging from wind farms in Texas to district heating in Finland and data centers in the UAE, illustrating how digital energy can enhance the resilience of energy infrastructure.
From Paradox to Possibility
Throughout the week, one theme was clear: the future of energy isn’t just about producing more, it’s about using what we already have more intelligently.
From panels and roundtables to the booth floor, MARA explored how digital energy can unlock both abundance and stability simultaneously. The company left Riyadh with a shared sense of purpose with peers across energy, technology, and policy to power the future responsibly, efficiently, and intelligently.
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Today, the globally renowned internet service provider Cloudflare experienced a widespread technical outage, affecting multiple fundamental services across the internet. MARA Company’s global cloud mining system relies on Cloudflare’s acceleration and security services. As a result, during the outage, the following issues occurred:
· System inaccessible
· Login failures
· Slow loading of market data
· Temporary unavailability of some functions
This issue is due to a global Cloudflare outage and is not caused by our system. At present, Cloudflare has officially acknowledged the issue and is conducting emergency repairs.
Today, the globally renowned internet service provider Cloudflare experienced a widespread technical outage, affecting multiple fundamental services across the internet. MARA Company’s global cloud mining system relies on Cloudflare’s acceleration and security services. As a result, during the outage, the following issues occurred:
· System inaccessible
· Login failures
· Slow loading of market data
· Temporary unavailability of some functions
This issue is due to a global Cloudflare outage and is not caused by our system. At present, Cloudflare has officially acknowledged the issue and is conducting emergency repairs.
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