Public Miners Are HODLing Strong Again
Top three hodlers account for 74% of industry reserves
As most of the public mining companies have published their March production updates, it is interesting to see that their combined bitcoin reserves are finally back to the level before the June 2022 sell-off.
As of March 31, public mining companies collectively held more than 46.2k bitcoin (BTC), according to data compiled by TheMinerMag. As the chart below shows, the all-time high for that metric was 48k BTC in April 2022 which was then sold off to 37k BTC in the next two months amid a broader market sell-off.
Their collective reserves then proceeded to decline, reaching the lowest point of 32k BTC in February 2023. However, in July 2023, a major reversal began, which was amplified in Q1 2024 as crypto markets became bullish.
More granular data also shows a significant consolidation among the bitcoin mining hodlers over the past two years.
As per the table below, some companies used to hold thousands of bitcoin following the 2021 bull run. However, once the bear market trend prevailed, part of them were forced to liquidate a lot of their reserves due to the high financial leverage they had taken. Others managed to stockpile their bitcoin reserves throughout the bear market.
The top three mining hodlers in March 2022 were Marathon, Core Scientific, and Hut 8. They accounted for 55% of the total reserves among bitcoin miners. Bitfarms and Riot were also holding considerable amounts at the time.
Fast forward to March 2024, the top three hodlers – Marathon, Hut8, and Riot – now account for 74% of the total reserves held by public mining companies. Marathon alone is holding over 17.3k BTC, which is close to Hut 8 and Riot’s current BTC reserves combined.
With the next halving just less than two weeks away, it will only become more difficult for companies to accumulate bitcoin from mining operations at a cheaper-than-market cost.
Regulation News
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State Lawmakers File Several Bills Addressing Crypto Mining Concerns – Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Hardware and Infrastructure News
Greenidge Secures Access to 60 MW Low-Cost Power in South Carolina - Link
Bhutan to Upgrade Bitcoin Mining in Himalayas as 'Halving' Looms - Bloomberg
Bitdeer Acquires Its Bitcoin Mining Landlords in Norway for $30M+ - TheMinerMag
US Bitcoin Miner Maker Auradine Raises $80M in Series B - TheMinerMag
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Corporate News
Marathon Rolls out 'Phased Plan' to Reduce Noise in Texas as Demand for BTC Soars - DLNews
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Poolside Upsizes and Extends AI Cloud Services Contract with Iris Energy - Link
Financial News
Public Miners Raise $1.6B in Q1 Ahead of Bitcoin Halving - TheMinerMag
Terawulf Repays $30m Term Loan, Reducing Debt Balance to $76m - Link
Miners Keep Adding to BTC Stockpiles in Homestretch Before Halving - Blockworks - Blockworks
Feature
The Big Empty: A Documentary on Bitcoin Mining in Texas - Blockspace Media
Taiwan’s Earthquake, Franklin Templeton on Ordinals and Poolin’s Asset Sale - The Mining Pod
The Fourth Bitcoin Halving Is Coming: What It Means - Axios
‘BTC Will Have to Hit $79K’: At-Home Miners Brace for the Bitcoin Halving - Blockworks
Bitcoin Mining: Get Poor Slow? With Steve Barbour - The Mining Pod
Bitcoin Miners Face Survival Test in 'Halving' - AFP