Bitcoin Miners Begin Massive Sell-Off After Revenue Drop

Following the network’s fourth ‘halving’ event, Bitcoin miners have begun to offload substantial amounts of their coin reserves, driven by nearly two months of reduced revenue. According to a recent report from CryptoQuant, a crypto market intelligence firm, the scale of this sell-off has reached a two-month high, with miners transferring approximately 3,000 BTC—valued at around $207 million—to exchanges on June 9 alone.

This substantial movement of Bitcoin to exchanges coincided with a 3% price correction on Tuesday, dropping to $66,000, although the cryptocurrency recovered swiftly the following morning. CryptoQuant also noted a significant increase in miner sales via over-the-counter (OTC) desks, marking the largest daily volume since late March, with 1,200 BTC sold for about $83 million.

The report indicates that these sales are partly motivated by Bitcoin’s modest price recovery since April, prompting miners to capitalize on profits amidst uncertain market conditions. However, the financial strain on miners has intensified significantly since the halving, which reduced the block reward by 50% to just 3.125 BTC in April, coupled with persistently low network fees, leading to a dramatic decline in mining revenue.

Even major players in the industry, including publicly traded companies like Marathon Digital (MARA), have begun to liquidate portions of their reserves. In June, Marathon Digital sold 1,400 BTC, representing 8% of its total holdings, a noticeable increase from the 390 BTC sold in May.

CryptoQuant’s analysis suggests that miners were “extremely underpaid” in May, a situation that has only recently shifted to being “fairly paid” in June. This assessment is based on comparing the 30-day percentage change in the U.S. dollar value of the block reward against the change in mining difficulty.

Despite a slight 4% decline in the total hash rate since the halving, the difficulty and cost of mining a Bitcoin block remain high relative to the reduced rewards, maintaining pressure on miners’ profitability.

Interestingly, mining-related stocks have shown resilience; for instance, the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miner ETF (WGMI) has seen a 33% increase since the halving event. This suggests a divergent sentiment in the investment sphere, highlighting a potentially optimistic outlook for the sector despite the operational challenges faced by miners.