Bitcoin miners hodl 27% less BTC after 3 months of major selling

Crypto mining companies experience a significant rise in the price of stocks amid the crypto crash

By Shashank Bhardwaj

Image: Shutterstock

Recent research reveals that Bitcoin miners sell more Bitcoin than they earn. The public miners now have a total of 33,772 BTC. It represents a 27 percent decrease from the all-time high in April of this year. In May, public miners sold more than 100 per cent of their total production. They increased their sales by nearly 400 per cent in June and July. However, sales were lower in July than in June. In July, miners sold 158 per cent of their Bitcoin production. This was the third month in a row that miners sold more than 100 percent of what they produced.

According to the study, the May and June market rout created a new generation of forced Bitcoin sellers. This occurred as a result of known institutions dumping nearly 240,000 BTC. According to the research, public Bitcoin miners had spent the previous year amassing one of the largest Bitcoin treasuries as a result of their 'hodl at any cost strategy.' The disadvantage of this strategy is that as the Bitcoin price falls, miners who use it are more likely to sell their Bitcoin.

In June, the price of Bitcoin fell by 41 per cent. It recovered in July, gaining 26 per cent. This naturally gave the public miners some breathing room, and the forced selling in June came to an end in July. July saw a more natural selling pressure associated with de-risking as part of funding expansion plans.

In this situation, fears arose that miners' production costs exceeded the Bitcoin spot price. It was also speculated that heavy sales were inevitable to take place in order to allow miners to remain in business. Many people may even have to retire entirely. This can occur if their operations are no longer financially viable.

Data since May appeared to confirm that significant volatility in the market was taking place. Core Scientific, a public miner, alone sold approximately 12,000 BTC between May and July. According to Arcane analyst Jaran Mellerud,

"Even though the public miners sold less than half the amount in July as in June, we still see that they are draining their holdings if we look at the percentage of the Bitcoin production sold…I expect the selling pressure to continue at between 100 percent and 150 per cent of production unless something significant happens to the Bitcoin price. This is equivalent to between 4,000 and 6,000 BTC per month."

Core Scientific Inc., Marathon Digital Holdings Inc., and Riot Blockchain Inc., the three largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies in the United States, lost more than $1 billion in the second quarter, according to a report published on August 18. Previously, the companies had taken a series of impairment charges as a result of the drop in crypto prices. At the same time, the shares of crypto mining companies have risen significantly. In order to hodl again, even the largest mining operators will now have to wait for BTC prices to go higher.

Shashank is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash

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