MARA CEO: Bitcoin's Payment Utility Is Dead
The CEO of MARA Holdings, Fred Thiel, made headlines recently by stating that Bitcoin has missed its chance as a viable payment method. According to Thiel, volatility has permanently disqualified Bitcoin from the payments arena, leaving stablecoins to fill that gap.
Thiel specifically pointed out that AI-related payments are an area where stablecoins make more sense than Bitcoin. He also highlighted a genuine weakness of Bitcoin: it generates no native yield for holders, meaning you can't stake it or receive dividends.
In Thiel's opinion, Bitcoin is currently undervalued by about 38% and has a fair value of roughly $90K. This is notable given that Bitcoin was trading at around $65K in late July 2026.
MARA Holdings itself is pivoting towards AI and high-performance computing data centers, citing the economics as the reason for this shift. According to Thiel, AI data centers can generate $10 to $15 million in revenue per megawatt, compared to Bitcoin mining's $1 million per megawatt.
The company is building dual-purpose facilities that can handle both AI workloads and Bitcoin mining operations. To fund this transition, MARA has sold portions of its Bitcoin holdings, valued at around $1.5 billion, to pay down debt and bankroll the expansion.