Shares of MARA Holdings Inc ( MARA ) are trading lower Thursday afternoon, swept up in a broader cryptocurrency sell-off that has seen Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) tumble over 6.5% to trade near the $86,800 level. MARA shares are now lower by approximately 48% over the trailing month amid broader crypto market volatility.

MARA shares are retreating from recent levels. Get the market research here.

What To Know: The decline highlights the specific, high-stakes correlation between the miner and the underlying asset. MARA's stock is reacting violently to Bitcoin’s drop, primarily due to its massive balance sheet exposure.

With a treasury holding of approximately 52,850 BTC, the company functions effectively as a leveraged proxy for Bitcoin. As spot prices retreat, the intrinsic value of MARA's assets diminish. This massive hoard acts as a double-edged sword, amplifying gains during rallies, but exacerbating losses during corrections.

Market sentiment is further strained by over $538 million in trader liquidations across the crypto sector and recent analyst concerns regarding MARA’s “slower hashrate growth.”

As fear of a potential bear market onset rises, investors are swiftly repricing MARA to reflect both the underlying devaluation of its holdings and the dampened sentiment across the mining sector.

Benzinga Edge Rankings: Data from Benzinga Edge illustrates the divergence between the company’s fundamental expansion and its current technical struggles, contrasting a near-perfect Growth score of 99.66 against a weak Momentum rating of just 8.86.

MARA Price Action: MARA Holdings ( MARA ) shares were down 4.46% at $10.60 at the time of publication on Thursday. The stock is near its 52-week low of $9.81, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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How To Buy MARA Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for MARA Holdings ( MARA ) – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

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