MARA Strangle Strategy
MARA (Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc.), in the Financial Services sector, (Financial - Capital Markets industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. operates as a digital asset technology company that mines cryptocurrencies with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets in United States. As of December 31, 2021, it had approximately 8,115 bitcoins, which included the 4,794 bitcoins held in the investment fund. The company was formerly known as Marathon Patent Group, Inc. and changed its name to Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. in February 2021. Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.
MARA (Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc.) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Financial - Capital Markets, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.86B, a beta of 5.43 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 6.66-23.45, average daily share volume of 47.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 2012, approximately 171 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MARA stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 5.43 indicates MARA has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.
What is a strangle on MARA?
A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money.
Current MARA snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $12.52, ATM IV 81.61%, IV rank 31.70%, expected move 23.40%. The strangle on MARA below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 28-day expiry.
Why this strangle structure on MARA specifically: MARA IV at 81.61% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 23.40% (roughly $2.93 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated MARA expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MARA should anchor to the underlying notional of $12.52 per share and to the trader's directional view on MARA stock.
MARA strangle setup
The MARA strangle below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With MARA near $12.52, the first option leg uses a $13.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MARA chain at a 28-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 MARA shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $13.00 | $0.96 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $12.00 | $0.84 |
MARA strangle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$179.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$179.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $10.21, $14.80
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- Unbounded
Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit.
MARA strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on MARA. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -99.9% | +$1,019.50 |
| $2.78 | -77.8% | +$742.79 |
| $5.54 | -55.7% | +$466.07 |
| $8.31 | -33.6% | +$189.36 |
| $11.08 | -11.5% | -$87.35 |
| $13.85 | +10.6% | -$94.93 |
| $16.61 | +32.7% | +$181.78 |
| $19.38 | +54.8% | +$458.49 |
| $22.15 | +76.9% | +$735.21 |
| $24.91 | +99.0% | +$1,011.92 |
When traders use strangle on MARA
Strangles on MARA are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the MARA chain.
MARA thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MARA extends from approximately $9.59 on the downside to $15.45 on the upside. A MARA long strangle is the OTM cousin of the straddle: lower up-front cost but the underlying has to travel further past either OTM strike before the position turns profitable at expiration. Current MARA IV rank near 31.70% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the strangle thesis on MARA should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, MARA options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MARA-specific events.
MARA strangle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM); the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. MARA positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MARA alongside the broader basket even when MARA-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current MARA chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on MARA?
- A strangle on MARA is the strangle strategy applied to MARA (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM): A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money. With MARA stock trading near $12.52, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MARA chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MARA strangle max profit and max loss calculated?
- Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit. For the MARA strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 81.61%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$179.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MARA strangle?
- The breakeven for the MARA strangle priced on this page is roughly $10.21 and $14.80 at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current MARA market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 23.40%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on MARA?
- Strangles on MARA are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the MARA chain.
- How does current MARA implied volatility affect this strangle?
- MARA ATM IV is at 81.61% with IV rank near 31.70%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.