Bitcoin Miners Are Selling Again: CryptoQuant Report
Bitcoin (BTC) has experienced a 4.5% decline over the past week, now reaching a monthly low of $65,000. This sharp downturn in value could be attributed to renewed selling activity by mining entities. According to the latest CryptoQuant weekly report, the amount of BTC being transferred from Bitcoin mining entities to exchanges has surged to a two-month high amid declining revenues due to lower transaction fees.
Miner Selling Hits Two-Month High
On June 9, the hourly transfer of BTC—primarily from the btc.com mining pool to the crypto exchange Binance—peaked at over 3,000 BTC, marking a two-month high. The following day, miners offloaded at least 1,200 BTC via over-the-counter desks, recording their highest daily volume since late March, when the daily volume hit 1,600 BTC.
Large Bitcoin mining companies have also ramped up their selling activities. Marathon Digital, a major U.S.-based mining firm, has sold off 1,400 BTC so far in June. This sale represents 8% of Marathon’s total holdings, a significant increase from the 390 BTC sold in May.
The surge in Bitcoin miner sales aligns with a period of sustained low revenues post-halving. Daily miner revenues have plummeted to approximately $35 million, a 55% decrease from the $78 million peak observed in March.
Daily Bitcoin transaction fees are now around 65, a stark contrast to the 117 recorded before the halving. Furthermore, median transaction fees have remained low in USD terms, despite the record-high number of transactions seen on the network in recent weeks.
Miners Face High Hashrate Challenges
While miners increase their selling due to lower revenues, the Bitcoin network’s hashrate remains high. The hashrate has only decreased by 4% since the halving in April, exerting additional pressure on miners.
A high hashrate means miners need more computational power, energy, and time to verify transactions and add blocks to the chain. This has led to miners compensating for lower block rewards in BTC under mounting pressure. At the time of writing, miners were fairly compensated, albeit underpaid.
Currently, Bitcoin’s hashrate stands at 599EH/s, down slightly from the pre-halving rate of 622EH/s. Miners are now competing for lower block rewards in BTC amid high pressure.
CryptoQuant analysts suggest that a period characterized by low miner revenues and high hashrate typically indicates price bottoms. It remains to be seen how low BTC could dip before market conditions favor a rally again.