Publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) mining companies sold more BTC in Q1 2026 than in all four quarters of 2025, as business conditions tighten for the mining industry.
Publicly listed BTC miners, including MARA, CleanSpark, Riot, Cango, Core Scientific and Bitdeer, have collectively sold more than 32,000 BTC in Q1 2026, according to TheEnergyMag.
The Q1 sales surpassed the 20,000 BTC sold in Q2 2022 during the crypto bear market triggered by the collapse of the Terra-Luna ecosystem, setting a “new record” for BTC miner sales in a single quarter, TheMinerMag said.
Quarterly BTC liquidations by publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies, Q1 2022-Q1 2026. Source: TheEnergyMag
The sales come as hashprice, that is, the computing cost and a critical metric for miner profitability, sits at record low levels under $35 per petahash/second per day (PH/s), according to data from Hashrate Index.
That $35 PH/s level is the breakeven for many Bitcoin miners, particularly those running older mining machines, and the current hashprice of about $33 PH/s per day places about 20% of the mining industry in unprofitable territory.
Hashprice for BTC miners has been declining since July 2025 and now sits at about $33 PH/s per day. Source: Hashrate Index
The heavy BTC sales come as the mining industry struggles with increased competition represented by a rising hashrate, the total computing power expended by miners to secure the network, reduced block rewards and macroeconomic headwinds.
Related: Bitcoin miners face a tougher road to the 2028 halving
BTC held by miners has been declining long-term while treasury companies pour in
The Bitcoin Miner Reserve, a metric tracking all the BTC held by miners, has been gradually decreasing since 2023, according to CryptoQuant.
Bitcoin miners collectively held over 1.86 million BTC at the end of 2023, but only hold about 1.8 million BTC at the time of publication.
The total number of BTC held by Bitcoin miners has been gradually declining since 2023. Source: CryptoQuant
Miners periodically sell portions of their BTC to cover operating expenses, but a combination of lower crypto prices and rising…
..
