MARA Holdings Down 6%, Riot Platforms Down 5%: Two Bitcoin Miners Caught Between Energy Costs and an AI Spin

MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA | MARA Price Prediction) and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) shares were under pressure on Friday. Both Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) miners are being squeezed from two directions simultaneously: geopolitical tensions pushing energy costs higher and the constant pressure to prove their AI pivot is more of a talking point.

MARA stock fell 6%, to below $9, and RIOT stock fell 4% to the $13.50 level. The selloff reflects margin pressure and investor skepticism about the AI ​​pivot narrative.

MARA Holdings: Energy costs bite into an already thin margin

MARA Holdings shares have been on a rough long-term ride. The stock has fallen 31% in the past year and has lost 80% of its value over five years. Even after a strong month in which MARA climbed 23% from its February lows, today’s pullback is a reminder of how quickly sentiment can change.

The core problem is cost creep. In its most recent quarter, MARA Holdings reported that its purchased energy cost per Bitcoin rose from $32,433 to $39,235. That increase reflects a global hashrate that climbed 66% year-over-year, making each bitcoin harder and more expensive to mine. Now low in rising oil prices driven by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the pressure on energy-intensive operations like MARAs is becoming a real headwind.

MARA Holdings does have a real diversification story going. Its planned acquisition of a stake of around 64% in Exaion, an EDF subsidiary, marks a push towards lower-cost, internationally diversified energy. Separately, a joint initiative with MPLX is developing West Texas data center campuses starting at 400 megawatts, with room to scale significantly.

The goal is to achieve 50% of revenue from international operations by 2028, reducing the company’s dependence on volatile domestic energy markets. We covered the volatility in this name just last week: MARA Holdings Up 8%: The most divisive stock in Crypto just made a big move.

That sensitivity is sharp. About $530 million in earnings impact for MARA Holdings could swing on a single move in Bitcoin’s price, meaning the company’s fortunes remain tightly tied to an asset it can’t control.

Riot Platforms: Record Revenue, Collapsed Profitability

Riot Platforms tells a more complicated story. The company posted record annual revenue of $647.4 million for fiscal year 2025, a gain of more than 70% year-over-year. Yet that top-line strength masked a dramatic collapse in profitability, with adjusted EBITDA falling from $463.19 million the year before to just $12.96 million. The market reacted sharply when the report was filed in early March, sending RIOT shares down nearly 7%.

The AI ​​hub at Riot Platforms is further than many realize. The company’s 10-year data center lease with Advanced Micro Devices ( NASDAQ:AMD ) took effect in January 2026, generating actual revenue. Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les laid out the strategy directly:

“By unlocking our large, nearly two-gigawatt power portfolio for high-demand data center infrastructure, we drive significant shareholder value.”

That power portfolio is the real asset here. In a world where hyperscalers wait 36 ​​to 48 months to secure power for new data centers, Riot Platforms already has nearly 2 gigawatts in its portfolio. The question is execution speed and whether the company can convert that infrastructure advantage into consistent cash flow before rising mining costs and Bitcoin volatility further erode the balance sheet.

Riot Platforms has 3,977 bitcoin held as collateral, limiting financial flexibility at exactly the wrong time. Additionally, with the global network hashrate increasing 52% year-over-year from the most recent quarter, the cost to mine each coin continues to rise regardless of what Bitcoin’s price does.

The shared pressure Both miners cannot escape

The Iran conflict sent WTI crude oil up to $97 a barrel. Energy-intensive operations like Bitcoin mining immediately feel that kind of shift. Neither company has fully insulated itself from spot energy markets, and that vulnerability is being priced in today.

Prediction markets on Polymarket capture the exact band both miners are in. The probability that Bitcoin will reach a high price threshold by the end of the year is about 40.5%, while the probability of a significant drop at some point stands at 70.5%.

So the upside is real but uncertain. The negative scenarios are more likely than most would like to admit. Both MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms are racing to build AI and data center revenue streams that can survive a Bitcoin bear market. Today’s price action suggests that investors are not yet convinced that either company is moving fast enough.