How to buy MARA Holdings (MARA) Bitcoin miner stock from India

Yes, an Indian resident can buy MARA Holdings — legally, in US dollars, under the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). MARA trades on NASDAQ. It pays no dividend. MARA is the largest US Bitcoin miner by hashrate — but before you buy, understand the post-halving mining economics and why IBIT (the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF) is a cleaner Bitcoin exposure for most Indian LRS investors.

The 30-second version

• Legal and simple. Buy MARA via Vested, INDmoney, or Interactive Brokers India.
• No dividend. No US withholding or Form 44 complexity.
• India tax: MARA equity gains taxed at 12.5% LTCG after 24 months (Section 112) — not the 30% VDA rate. Shorter holds taxed at slab.
• Estate-tax trap: US-situs asset — above $60,000 of total US-situs assets, up to 40% US estate tax, no treaty relief.
• The honest comparison: MARA gives you operational leverage on Bitcoin mining — not cleaner Bitcoin exposure. In a bull market, MARA can outperform IBIT significantly (miners have operating leverage). In a bear market, MARA can fall 70–80% while Bitcoin falls 50%. The April 2024 halving cut block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC — mining economics are tighter than pre-halving. Size MARA as a high-risk satellite position if you own it at all.

Quick facts

Can an Indian resident buy it?	Yes — fully legal under the LRS
Ticker / exchange	MARA / NASDAQ
How	IBKR, Rovia, INDmoney, or Vested
Minimum	A fraction of one share
Dividend	None
India tax on gains	12.5% LTCG after 24 months; else your slab (Section 112 — not VDA)
Estate-tax risk	US-situs above $60k → up to 40%, no treaty relief
Annual compliance	Schedule FA (equity section) every year you hold

How to buy it — 3 steps

1. Open an account and finish KYC. Use IBKR for the widest access and best execution, Rovia for a combined RSU + LRS experience, or INDmoney / Vested for a simple India-funded flow.
2. Fund via the LRS. Cap: $250,000/year. 20% TCS above ₹7 lakh — creditable against income tax.
3. Place the order. MARA is highly correlated to Bitcoin but with amplified moves. Stagger entries; position-size for the possibility of 70–80% drawdowns in extended bear markets.

What MARA actually is

MARA Holdings (formerly Marathon Digital Holdings) is a Bitcoin mining company — it operates industrial-scale ASIC mining equipment that earns Bitcoin by solving proof-of-work blocks on the Bitcoin network.

The mining economics:

• MARA's hashrate: approximately 50 EH/s (exahashes per second) as of Q1 2026 — the largest public miner
• Bitcoin mined Q1 2026: approximately 2,800 BTC
• Bitcoin held on balance sheet: approximately 47,000 BTC — MARA is a "hold" miner that accumulates rather than selling all mined Bitcoin immediately

The halving impact: The April 2024 Bitcoin halving reduced block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. Mining revenue per unit of hashrate was cut in half unless Bitcoin price compensated. At $110K Bitcoin (July 2026), the economics remain viable — but MARA's profitability depends on Bitcoin staying elevated, electricity costs staying low, and ASIC efficiency improving.

Why MARA is not a clean Bitcoin play: MARA adds:

• Electricity cost risk (power prices affect margins directly)
• ASIC depreciation (mining hardware depreciates; the next generation of chips always threatens the current fleet's competitiveness)
• Management execution risk (site selection, power contracts, hardware procurement)
• Halving cycle risk (every ~4 years, block rewards halve again)

IBIT gives you 1:1 Bitcoin exposure at 0.25% TER with none of these risks. MARA gives you leveraged Bitcoin exposure with all of them.

When MARA makes sense vs IBIT

Scenario	Better choice
Clean Bitcoin price exposure, long hold	IBIT
Belief that mining margins will expand (cheap power + Bitcoin up)	MARA (small satellite position)
Want to combine Bitcoin price + Bitcoin ecosystem business	IBIT + COIN
Already own Bitcoin via IBIT and want upside leverage	MSTR (not MARA — better leverage mechanism)

The tax that actually matters

No dividend means a clean capital-gains picture:

Holding period	Treatment	Rate
24 months or less	Short-term	Your slab rate
More than 24 months	Long-term	12.5%, no indexation

Not VDA tax. MARA is equity — Section 112 applies. This is the same favourable treatment as IBIT, MSTR, and COIN.

Full rules: how US stocks are taxed in India.

The $60,000 estate-tax trap

Directly-held MARA is a US-situs asset. Above $60,000 of total US-situs holdings at death, US estate tax of up to 40% — no India-US treaty protection. See the estate-tax trap guide.

Buy MARA, or get Bitcoin exposure more cleanly?

If you want…	Best route
Clean Bitcoin price exposure	IBIT (BlackRock Bitcoin ETF)
Leveraged Bitcoin proxy (balance sheet strategy)	MSTR (Strategy)
Crypto business model	COIN (Coinbase)
Full crypto exposure picture	Crypto and Bitcoin guide for Indian investors