Bitcoin Halving Prompts Record Miner Selling: Bitfinex Report

Bitcoin BTC/USD miners are offloading their holdings to raise capital to expand mining and infrastructure facilities.

What Happened: The latest Bitfinex Alpha report attributes the recent price pullback to Bitcoin miners' selling ahead of the upcoming halving event in April 2024. This indicates the significant impact of miners on market liquidity and price discovery.

Following the ETF approval, Bitcoin miner reserves dropped significantly, with the second day of ETF approval (Jan.12) witnessing a $1 billion increase in Bitcoin miners’ outflow to exchanges. This marked a six-year-high in miner outflow.

The last week of January saw a net outflow of 3,500 bitcoin in a single day, recorded from miner wallets. This marks the highest level observed since May 2023. The BTC Miner reserve has decreased to 1.83 million Bitcoin, the lowest point since June 2021.

The halving will reduce Bitcoin rewards for miners and decrease miner profitability. Thus, this selling activity aims to create a capital base for the required upgrades in infrastructure such as machinery and mining facilities.

Also Read: Bitcoin Halving Could Make 9 Of 11 Largest Public Miners Unprofitable: Analyst

Why It Matters: According to a Charles Schwab report, central banks around the world are poised to cut interest rates in 2024. The Fed Reserve is expected to lead the trend, thereby causing the dollar to continue falling moderately as the yield differences between the U.S. and other countries shrink.
Analysts in the Bitfinex report note a weaker dollar leads to a rise in miner profits and vice versa.

These developments make social media observers bullish. One observer sees the next "bull leg" begin "once the dollar rolls over again." 

James Van Straten, lead analyst from CryptoSlate, a cryptocurrency news site, notes that the past 30 days of all cohorts, miners, and exchanges have overall included 61,000 Bitcoin: 

After the Spot ETF approvals, Bitcoin Halving remains the next significant event in the crypto industry. All eyes are also on how publicly listed mining companies like, Marathon Digital MARA, Riot Platforms RIOT, Hut 8 Mining HUT, and many others perform.

Read Next: Bitcoin Halving Next Major Catalyst After Spot Bitcoin ETF Approvals, But History Shows BTC Could Dip To $34,000 By April