Bitcoin has fallen 27% since the start of 2026 to just under $64,000, while public miners have added another source of selling pressure alongside ETF outflows and treasury sales. Blockware Intelligence data shows publicly listed miners held 127,000 BTC at the start of the year.
Their combined holdings have since dropped to 99,000 BTC. This decline means the group sold about 28,000 BTC, worth roughly $1.78 billion at current prices. The sales came as Bitcoin lagged major assets, including the S&P 500 Index.
Meanwhile, US-listed spot crypto ETFs have recorded more than $4.4 billion in net outflows, according to SoSoValue. Long-dormant holders and digital-asset treasury companies have added further supply.
Blockware said early-year miner sales remain an underdiscussed factor in Bitcoin’s weak 2026 performance. Although miner sales trail ETF outflows, steady selling can matter when market demand weakens.
Public miners now face an average Bitcoin production cost of about $74,300. That level sits above Bitcoin’s current market price, putting further pressure on operating margins. At the same time, mining difficulty has fallen about 18% from its November peak. The data also shows the longest stretch of declining hashrate.
As competition eases, miners that remain active can collect larger Bitcoin rewards. Blockware said those miners now earn about 18% more Bitcoin than they did 10 months earlier.
The shift could also reshape industry economics as some large operators reduce mining activity. Could miner selling remain a major market pressure if Bitcoin stays below average production costs?
Also Read: Will BTC Break Resistance at $64K Amid Bearish Signals?
Riot Platforms has agreed to a $9 billion, 20-year compute deal with Anthropic, according to CNBC’s David Faber. The agreement covers 191 megawatts at Riot’s Rockdale, Texas campus. The contract could generate $9.1 billion over 20 years. Revenue could reach about $16.1 billion if both sides extend the agreement through two additional five-year periods.
Riot also has an existing agreement with Advanced Micro Devices. Compass Point analyst Michael Donovan said the two-tenant campus now carries $9.8 billion in contracted data center revenue.
Meanwhile, investors increasingly view listed Bitcoin miners as digital infrastructure owners rather than pure Bitcoin producers. Their power capacity, data centers and energy contracts now support that transition.
The miner-to-AI shift began taking shape during the 2022 crypto downturn. Lower Bitcoin prices, stronger competition, and halving-driven reward reductions can squeeze margins until mining operations become unprofitable.
Bitcoin’s 2026 decline has coincided with 28,000 BTC in public miner sales, more than $4.4 billion in ETF outflows, and average mining costs above spot prices. Meanwhile, lower difficulty has improved economics for remaining miners, while Riot’s Anthropic deal shows how large operators are shifting toward AI infrastructure.