Low Hash Rate Pushes Bitcoin Miners to Unload Record BTC Before $109k All-Time High

Bitcoin reached an impressive high of $109,000 on Wednesday, yet this milestone brings little relief to miners, who have recently been compelled to liquidate significant amounts of their bitcoin holdings, as highlighted by a recent mining study.

Research shows that public miners sold 115% of their bitcoin output in April, an unusual situation where they sold more than they mined, marking the highest such ratio since late 2022 when the market was bearish.

Despite the recent price surge past $109,000, the hashprice, which indicates earnings per unit of computational power, has not increased proportionally. It currently stands at $55 per petahash per second (PH/s), considerably lower than the $63/PH/s seen when bitcoin last hit $100,000 in December. Ongoing high network difficulty and low transaction fees continue to suppress miner profits.

Nevertheless, leading mining companies are still expanding their operations. CleanSpark has increased its hashrate to over 40 EH/s, while IREN, which has now outpaced Riot Platforms as the third-largest public miner by hashrate, increased its output by 25% and aims for 50 EH/s by June. Similarly, Cango is looking to add 18 EH/s by July.

MARA Holdings retains the highest installed hashrate at 57.3 EH/s, according to a recent Jefferies report. The study noted that IREN boasts the best implied uptime at around 97%, followed closely by HIVE Digital Technologies at approximately 96%.

At the same time, miners are adjusting their strategies for acquiring new hardware. Several public mining firms are negotiating with Bitmain to purchase rigs using bitcoin while maintaining the option to buy back their coins at a set price, providing a safeguard against future price increases.

Mining stock prices, which fell drastically in the first quarter, saw significant rebounds — some rising over 60% just in April — although many are still showing losses year-to-date. Currently, only CleanSpark and MARA Holdings have posted positive returns for the year.