- March has seen a hike in BTC miner-to-exchange activity.
- Miners are seeking to book profits from the coin’s current rally.
Bitcoin [BTC] miner-to-exchange activity has seen a spike ahead of the next halving scheduled for around mid-April, on-chain data revealed.
This pre-programmed event cuts the reward for mining a block in half, aiming to control inflation by limiting new Bitcoin issuance.
According to data from CryptoQuant, the BTC miner reserve has been slowly declining since the 26th of February. This metric measures the amount of coins held in affiliated miners’ wallets.
When its value declines, it suggests that miners are offloading their coins.
Sitting at 2 million BTC at press time, BTC’s miner reserve has fallen by almost 2% in the past two weeks.
Source: CryptoQuant
In a new report, CryptoQuant analyst Joao Wedson noted that March so far has been marked by,
“A consistent flow of Bitcoin from miners’ wallets to exchanges.”
When there is an uptick in miner-to-exchange activity on the Bitcoin network, it suggests that miners are selling more BTC than they are mining.
Per CryptoQuant’s data, the daily flow of BTC from miners’ wallets to exchanges has risen by over 1000% in the last seven days.
Wedson also attributes this current rise to the upcoming halving event.
Due to the anticipated decline in mining rewards, miners on the Bitcoin network are currently under pressure to sell their holdings and realize a profit before mining costs outpace rewards.
According to Wedson:
“The logic behind this is simple: with the reduction in rewards, the pressure to sell and ensure profitability before mining costs become disproportionate to the reward may increase. This preventive action can be an attempt to mitigate risks associated with the reduction in mining revenues.”
Rally above $70,000 leads to…
At press time, BTC was at $68,369. On the 8th of March, it traded briefly above the $70,000 price mark to record a new all-time high, according to CoinMarketCap’s data.
Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price Prediction 2024-2025
With the Futures market recording mostly positive Funding Rates, the price jump above $70,000 resulted in a liquidation of short positions worth $58 million, per Coinglass’ data.
Source: Coinglass
On the same day, long liquidations totaled $50 million.