Bitcoin Miners Are Selling Again: CryptoQuant

Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen 4.5% in the past seven days, going to a monthly low of $65,000. This plunge in the digital asset’s value could be linked to increased selling from mining entities.

In the latest CryptoQuant weekly report, analysts revealed that the number of BTC sent from Bitcoin mining entities to exchanges has reached a two-month high amid a decline in their revenues due to lower transaction fees.

Miner Selling Hits Two-Month High

On June 9, the hourly transfer of BTC, mainly from the btc.com mining pool, to the crypto exchange Binance hit a two-month high of more than 3,000 BTC. The next day, miners sold at least 1,200 BTC via over-the-counter desks, recording their highest daily volume since late March, when the daily volume totaled 1,600 BTC.

Large Bitcoin mining companies have also increased their selling activity. One such is the U.S.-based Marathon Digital, which has offloaded 1,400 BTC so far in June. The entity’s June sale represents 8% of its total holdings, a major increase from the 390 BTC it sold in May.

The increased selling from Bitcoin miners comes as revenues remain low following the halving. Daily miner revenues have plunged to approximately $35 million, down 55% from $78 million, a peak reached in March.

Daily Bitcoin transaction fees now hover around 65, a massive drop from the 117 recorded before the halving. In addition, median transaction fees have stayed low in USD terms despite the record-high number of transactions seen on the network in the past few weeks.

Miners Face High Hashrate

While miners increase their selling due to lower revenues, the Bitcoin network’s hashrate has remained high. The hashrate has only fallen by 4% since the halving in April, which has put additional pressure on miners.

A high hashrate means miners need more computing power, energy, and time to verify transactions and add blocks to the chain. It also means that miners are underpaid or extremely underpaid. Notably, they were fairly paid at the time of writing.

Currently, Bitcoin’s hashrate stands at 599EH/s, slightly down from the pre-halving rate of 622 EH/s. Miners are now competing for lower block rewards in terms of BTC under high pressure.

CryptoQuant analysts said a period with low miner revenues and high hashrate indicates price bottoms. It remains to be seen how low BTC can go before the market rallies again.