Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc., the largest Bitcoin mining company by market capitalization, has been ordered to pay $138 million in damages following a unanimous jury verdict in a breach of contract lawsuit.

Marathon Digital Hit with $138 Million Verdict in Contract Breach Case

The verdict, issued in a federal court, concluded that Marathon had breached a non-disclosure, non-circumvention agreement with Michael Ho, the Chief Strategy Officer of Marathon's direct competitor, Hut 8.

According to court documents, Ho entered into an agreement with Marathon in 2020 to provide proprietary information regarding a large-scale energy supplier for the company's mining operations. The agreement stipulated that Marathon would not circumvent Ho by directly engaging with the supplier without compensation.

The lawsuit alleged that Ho had developed a growth strategy for Marathon, including plans for a large-scale Bitcoin mining facility in North America. Marathon was accused of executing this strategy without compensating Ho for the proprietary information he provided.

“The unanimous jury verdict for $138 million vindicates Michael Ho's efforts and expertise, and it reinforces the importance of honoring contractual obligations and respecting professional relationships,” explain David Affeld from Affeld England & Johnson LLP, who represented Ho.

Marathon also addressed the issue, stating that while they respect the decision, they are convinced that "the jury reached the wrong conclusion."

"There was no wrongdoing on the company’s part," Marathon Digital commented in an emailed statement. "We also believe that the damages awarded have no legal basis. We intend to challenge this verdict and commence the appeal process as soon as practicable.”

MARA Shares Show Little Reaction to Multimillion-Dollar Fine

Despite the substantial financial setback, Marathon Digital remains the world's largest Bitcoin mining firm by market capitalization, valued at approximately $6.77 billion. The company recently reported that it doubled its operational hashrate year-over-year to 26.3 exahashes per second in June.

Wall Street investors responded little to news of the multimillion-dollar fine. During Monday's trading session, Marathon's shares (NASDAQ: MARA) fell by 3% to just under $24, maintaining levels close to four-month highs. However, before today's session began, they lost an additional 2% in pre-market trading, testing the level of $23.46.

Last year, the company's revenue increased by 229%, reaching a record high of $388 million. Its net income saw a substantial increase, reaching $261.2 million, equivalent to $1.06 per diluted share, which marked a significant recovery from the loss reported the previous year. Additionally, the adjusted EBITDA grew notably, totaling $419.9 million.

For comparison, the second-largest crypto miner listed on Wall Street, also on NASDAQ, Riot Platforms, has a significantly smaller market capitalization of around $3.2 billion,