Bitcoin Miners Increasing BTC Sales to Cover Costs, Reports CryptoQuant

Bitcoin miners are experiencing a significant strain, with many firms liquidating more coins than normal to sustain operations. 

According to a report released by data firm CryptoQuant on Tuesday, miners increased their selling activities last week as the price of Bitcoin fell below $80,000. 

On April 7, miners sold a total of 15,000 BTC, marking the third-largest daily outflow for this year. This amounted to at least $1.12 billion, based on that day’s low of under $75,000.

The increased volatility in the market—both in stocks and cryptocurrencies—is largely attributed to President Trump’s unpredictable tariff announcements, which have left traders uncertain about their next moves. 

Typically, miners are large industrial operations equipped with specialized computers that handle transactions and produce new coins for the cryptocurrency network. They earn new Bitcoin as compensation for their efforts. 

However, when the cryptocurrency’s price declines, these miners may find it challenging to meet their operational costs, leading to an increased necessity to sell more coins to keep their businesses afloat.

CryptoQuant highlighted that miners’ margins have been squeezed due to lower prices, reduced transaction fees, and a record-high Bitcoin network hash rate, which indicates increased mining costs. This has reduced their average operating margins from 53% in late January to 33% today. 

The firm also stated that Bitcoin is currently in one of its least bullish phases since November 2022. Although Bitcoin reached a peak of nearly $109,000 per coin just before President Trump’s inauguration, it has faced challenges in exceeding $90,000 since then. 

At present, Bitcoin is trading at nearly $83,800—representing a slight increase of 1% over the last 30 days, as reported by CoinGecko. Nevertheless, it has seen almost a 9% rise over the past week after previously dipping to around $75,000.

President Trump has pledged to support the crypto industry, particularly Bitcoin miners. Although he has authorized a national Bitcoin strategic reserve and his SEC has dismissed several significant lawsuits against crypto firms, the mining business remains challenging. 

Miners at this year’s Mining Disrupt conference voiced to Decrypt that the industry will continue to face difficulties as mining challenges and costs escalate.

Edited by Andrew Hayward