What happened Shares of Marathon Patent Group (NASDAQ: MARA) gained 59.3% in March 2021, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The cryptocurrency mining company saw Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) prices rise 27% over the same period. Like other mining specialists, Marathon tends to amplify the price trends of their underlying cryptocurrency tokens, and that was the case for Marathon in March. So what Marathon's March gains weren't all about pure Bitcoin price gains. Near the end of the month, Marathon announced a North American Bitcoin mining pool that aims to distribute mining rewards among its own cryptocurrency mining systems and a larger group of third-party miners. This pool will comply with U.S. cryptocurrency regulations, accepting new miners in June 2021. Marathon's stock rose 10% on this news alone even though the Bitcoin market was relatively sleepy that day. Image source: Getty Images. Now what The company also provided a Bitcoin mining update in early April. The Bitcoin mining capacity more than doubled from January to March. Marathon's total Bitcoin holdings were worth $302 million at the end of March. Another 10,300 mining systems were installed during the first quarter, lifting Marathon's total mining fleet to 12,900 systems. Management expects to have 103,000 systems operational by the end of March, 2022. Investors are betting on this skyrocketing mining capacity to generate substantial revenues and profits over time. It remains to be seen exactly how stable Bitcoin prices might be over the next year and beyond, but Marathon is betting the proverbial farm on economically viable mining returns. It's an exciting strategy, but many of us ordinary investors are opting for calmer and less risky bets on the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin itself arguably falls in that category. 10 stocks we like better than Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc.When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of February 24, 2021 Anders Bylund owns shares of Bitcoin. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source