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One overlooked group has added $1.78 billion of selling pressure to bitcoin market
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- DeepHorus
Publicly listed bitcoin miners have emerged as a significant source of selling pressure, unloading roughly 28,000 BTC this year worth $1.78 billion, according to data from Blockware Intelligence. This overlooked group has been injecting steady supply into the market at a time when bitcoin's price is already under heavy strain. The leading cryptocurrency has tumbled 27% since the start of 2026 to just under $64,000, underperforming every major asset, including the S&P 500 Index.
Mainstream analysis has focused on withdrawals from U.S.-listed spot crypto ETFs, which have registered net outflows of over $4.4 billion, according to SoSoValue, forcing funds to dump their holdings. Analysts also cite selling by long-dormant holders and digital-asset treasury companies, most recently by Strategy (MSTR). However, publicly listed minersâcompanies that validate blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain and receive newly issued BTC as paymentâhave been largely missing from the discussion.
At the start of the year, these firms collectively held 127,000 BTC; now their combined holdings stand at just 99,000 BTC. That means they have sold a total of 28,000 BTC, worth $1.78 billion at current prices. While this amount is smaller than ETF outflows, in financial markets price is set at the margin, meaning even relatively modest and steady selling can have an outsized impact when buying interest is already weak.
These miners are facing squeezed margins, with the average cost to produce one bitcoin at $74,300âwell above the current trading price. In response, a growing number are pivoting into artificial intelligence and using their secured high-voltage electrical capacity to support that shift. This exodus is easing competition in the mining sector and reshaping the economics for those that remain.
Blockware Solutions' research division noted that âearly year sales from public miners are an underdiscussed contributing factorâ to Bitcoinâs poor price performance in 2026. The firm highlighted that the exodus and AI pivot of several large miners has eased network difficulty by about 18% from its November peak. This marks the longest stretch of declining hashrate, making BTC cheaper to mine and boosting rewards for remaining miners.
According to Blockware, âthe rest of the miners are earning ~18% more Bitcoin now than they were 10 months ago.â This classic free-market reset could lure new miners back into the network, potentially stabilizing supply and price. For now, the selling pressure from public miners remains a key force in the ongoing downturn, and their strategic shifts will likely continue to influence bitcoin's trajectory.
