What happened
If you think you're having a bad week, spare a moment of thought for beleaguered cryptocurrency company Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA -0.42%). Over the past week, the Bitcoin (BTC 1.21%) miner's stock plunged by more than 27%, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, due to continued softness in the price of its core asset and a production update that failed to impress investors.
So what
If the market can hardly get excited about Bitcoin, you can be sure it's shrugging about Marathon Digital. The leading digital coin by market cap remains frozen in this crypto winter, and the "weather" has been particularly cold in the aftermath of FTX's collapse.
Although Marathon Digital is going about its business, it's mining a cryptocurrency that few are eager about these days. After market hours on Tuesday, the company issued its latest production and mining device installation update. It said that in November, it produced 472 Bitcoin, ending the month with a total of 4,200 in its possession. As of Dec. 1, the company had roughly 69,000 actively producing mining rigs.
Marathon Digital said that its operations during the month were hampered by a "curtailment" at a mining site in Texas. This stoppage was due to a weather-related spike in spot prices for energy at the site, according to the company. Marathon Digital added that it is working on "optimizing curtailment strategies and site operations" with the facility's new operator to improve its productivity at that location.
Now what
So Marathon Digital's weekly slide was due to a combination of traders being unenthusiastic about crypto and the news of its operational hiccup. If the company finds a way to address the second issue, one might expect some recovery in the share price, but generally, the current environment isn't ideal for cryptocurrencies and related assets.
