MARA Taps Auradine for Half of 2025 Bitcoin Mining Rig Orders: Report

MARA has sourced around half of its miner orders this year from U.S. bitcoin chip designer and manufacturer Auradine amid looming trade tariffs, CEO Fred Thiel said in a news report.

Although Auradine’s rigs still represent a small share of the machines currently operating at MARA’s facilities, Thiel told Wired in a report published on Friday that the company’s orders in 2025 are split roughly evenly between Auradine and other vendors.

According to MARA’s first-quarter earnings report, it advanced $22.3 million to Auradine for future purchases during the period. That made up about 23% of MARA’s $97.4 million in “advances to vendors,” which refers to the prepayments for mining hardware. This suggests that MARA has doubled down on ordering Auradine’s Teraflux rigs during the second quarter.

The ramp-up reflects a growing strategic relationship between the two firms, built on both equity investment and long-term procurement. MARA was among Auradine’s earliest backers, investing $35 million into the Silicon Valley startup’s Series A round and doubling down in subsequent rounds.

As of March 31, the carrying amount of MARA’s investment in Auradine totaled $85.4 million, and the advances to Auradine, net of property and equipment placed into service, were $57.2 million. Thiel also serves on Auradine’s board of directors.

Auradine began shipping the Teraflux line of Bitcoin ASICs in mid-2024, positioning them as a U.S.-made alternative to Chinese ASIC giants Bitmain and MicroBT.

While the Auradine machines remain a minority among MARA’s total deployed fleet, the 2025 procurement shift comes amid growing political interest in domestic Bitcoin infrastructure, as well as heightened scrutiny of supply chain dependencies.

According to the Wired report, Auradine has received an “influx of requests from U.S. mining firms wanting to diversify their hardware fleets” since U.S. President Trump announced the new tariffs in April.