Bitcoin miners’ reserves can often be an indication of where the market might go due to their large holdings. The rise or fall of these reserves can indicate how miners view the market, and a drop in their reserves can be bad for the BTC price.
Miner reserves drop by 14,000 BTC
Bitcoin miners, who are responsible for confirming transactions on the blockchain and keeping the network secure, seem to focus on selling rather than accumulating. According to a CryptoQuant reportthese miner reserves have declined noticeably since the start of 2024.
Their holdings dropped by 14,000 BTC in less than two months, indicating that these miners have sold some of their inventory. If we assume an average price of $43,000 since January 2024, this means that Bitcoin miners have sold over $600 million worth of BTC to date. As a result, miners’ reserves currently sit at 1.8 million BTC, the lowest level since June 2021.
Bitcoin miners selling their coins are not new as they often have to sell at times to keep their operations going. The most notable costs include electricity and mining machinery. However, it does not change the fact that selling it can have a negative effect on the price of BTC.
This time, however, miners appear to be selling for an additional reason, which Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, has determined is to strengthen their balance sheets.
Bitcoin miners are gearing up for the halving
Bitcoin’s next halving is expected to take place sometime in April 2024, and block rewards are expected to drop to 3,125 BTC. Naturally, these miners are preparing for this drop in rewards, as identified by Matthew Sigel.
“Miners have started selling more of their coins to strengthen balance sheets and fund growth investments, ahead of tougher times for margins when block rewards are halved in April. After the halving, the scale will become even more important.”
Nevertheless, as selling has increased, so has buying, as Spot Bitcoin ETF issuers scramble to accumulate BTC for their customers. According to this NewsbTC report, Spot Bitcoin ETF issuers now own over 657,000 BTC, which is worth over $28 billion at current prices.
At the time of writing, BTC price is trading at $42,933 after bouncing back from the $43,000 resistance. The crypto’s fluctuations at this level suggest that $43,000 is the target to beat if it wants to continue its uptrend.
BTC price struggles below $43,000 | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Forbes India, chart from Tradingview.com
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