By most measures, 2021 was a banner year for bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital Holdings.

But with that success came two eye-grabbing byproducts: lots of bitcoin mining machines now sitting idle and an extraordinarily well-compensated former executive.  

The company’s recent results, published March 1, highlight rapid growth across most key metrics. Revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31 grew 3,353% year-on-year to $150.5 million. The company mined 3,197 bitcoin, an 846% increase.  

The bulk of Marathon’s gains is paper-based because the company hasn’t sold any bitcoin since October 2020. But most relevant metrics — including hash rate and the value of its investment fund — rose sharply.

So did the company’s costs, however. Its direct cost of revenues in 2021 rose 381% to $33.7 million. This metric encompasses co-hosting fees, electricity, depreciation and amortization expenses of mining machines and patents, and so on.

Excluded, though, are another $201.8 million in expenses — of which $156 million came in the form of stock-based pay (net of withholding taxes). 

The Galaxy Digital-backed company says that it implemented the feature as their 4.6 million subscribers expressed interest in cryptocurrencies. CEO of Acorns Noah Kerner, however, stressed that it is “not trading” and instead is a way for customers to invest in a volatile asset as part of a long-term diversified portfolio. 

Security firm PeckShield estimated that the stolen assets included 17 Azuki, 5 CloneX, 2 Hedgies, and 33 Second Self — all popular NFT collections — which the hacker then sold on marketplaces such as OpenSea.

The exchange will become a subsidiary of the Coincheck Group BV, with an intention to SPAC on the Nasdaq by the end of the year with a pre-money valuation of $1.25 billion, according to a statement. It follows several firms in the fintech and crypto sectors attempting to list via SPAC.