Bitcoin Miners are Under Pressure and Selling Coins: CryptoQuant

Data shows that Bitcoin miners have ramped up selling, evidenced by the higher activity on OTC desks and transfers from mining pools to exchanges.

The post-halving effect on the Bitcoin mining industry may now be well and truly underway, as lower transaction fees on the network translate into lower revenues and reduced margins.

Onchain analytics firm CryptoQuant noted that Bitcoin miners are under pressure and have started selling their coins over the last few weeks as the price of bitcoin fluctuated between $69,000 and $71,000.

One of the signs of miner selling that analysts point to is the uptick in transfers from mining pools to crypto exchange Binance. On June 9, these transfers hit a two-month peak of over 3,000 BTC, aligning with a price correction for bitcoin which dropped to $66,000 on the day. 

Miner activity on over-the-counter (OTC) desks has also seen a spike in activity, particularly on June 10, when miners sold 1,200 BTC, marking the highest daily volume since March. 

Meanwhile, publicly traded bitcoin miners like Marathon Digital have been seen offloading bitcoin holdings, selling 1,400 BTC in June compared to 390 BTC in May. 

Explaining the context for miner selling, analysts highlighted that Bitcoin miner revenues had dropped 55% from peak 2024 levels to around $35 million this month. 

“Amidst low miner revenues post-halving, daily Bitcoin transaction fees have dropped to around 65 Bitcoin from 117 prior to April 18th. Despite record-high transactions, median transaction fees in USD remain low, underscoring the pressure on miners’ income,” said CryptoQuant.

Meanwhile, the bitcoin hashrate, which measures the amount of miner processing power going toward the network, saw a more modest decline of 4% from 622 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 599 EH/s. This implies that there are still a high number of miners online and competition in the industry remains fairly high. 

“Periods when miner revenues are low and the hashrate remains high often point to potential market lows. Since May, miners have faced significant underpayment, suggesting we might be near a price bottom,” said the analysts.