Bitcoin Miners Turn to Selling Mined Assets

Bitcoin miners, including major players like Hut 8 Mining and Marathon Digital Holdings, are increasingly selling their mined bitcoins to fund operations due to a slump in cryptocurrency prices and reduced profit margins. This marks the end of an era of Bitcoin mining “HODLers” who held onto their mined digital assets indefinitely.

Hut 8 Mining, the last publicly listed bitcoin miner to adopt a 100% “HODL” strategy, recently sold 188 bitcoins in February to cover operational costs. Similarly, Marathon Digital Holdings sold bitcoin for the first time in January. These miners had held onto their mined bitcoin through the bull market and into the bear cycle but have now started liquidating their assets to pay for daily expenses.

The prolonged bear market has led to the bankruptcies of some large-scale miners like Compute North and Core Scientific, as well as debt restructurings by others. This has contributed to the decision to sell bitcoin reserves to maintain operations.

Industry experts predict that more miners will adopt a hybrid strategy, selling mined bitcoins to cover expenses while holding onto a portion of their digital assets. This comes as the market faces uncertainties surrounding the return of a bull cycle and the potential for repeating past mistakes.

As crypto winter impacts the industry, upcoming earnings reports may reveal significant non-cash losses for digital assets and mining-related assets. This highlights the challenging market conditions faced by bitcoin miners.