Analysts claim that the influence of miners on the price of BTC has decreased. However, the total supply held by miners exceeds $100 billion, making it a crucial price factor.
Bitcoin (BTC) has returned to a three-month low of nearly $60,000, fueled by various negative factors.
Market observers list macroeconomic uncertainty, the Bitcoin mining crisis, and oversupply of various entities, including the planned Mt.Gox repayment.
However, analyst Fred Krueger has downplayed the impact of Bitcoin miners on the price trend based on the amount held by top miners and their monthly supply. He said, “These miners are no longer important to the price of Bitcoin. The top five miners collectively hold 34,000 bitcoins. Even if they were to sell half of their assets, it would only be worth $10 billion, or 0.1% of the total asset value. In terms of new supply, these five miners generate 20,000 bitcoins in income each month. This is no longer significant.”
No, BTC miners are still crucial
Marathon Digital, Clean Spark, and Riot Blockchain are the top publicly traded BTC miners by market value. However, other analysts have refuted Krueger’s view.
One of them, James Van Straten, emphasized that the selling pressure from most miners comes from unprofitable private miners. “Public miners only account for 20-25% of the hash rate. Many private companies holding BTC are losing money/spending BTC. This is one of the main reasons BTC has struggled after each halving.”
According to Straten, the total supply held by miners is a staggering 1.8 million BTC, valued at approximately $109.8 billion at current market prices.
The analyst added that despite a decrease in the total supply held by miners, the significant amount still represents “continuous selling pressure.”
AMBCrypto’s analysis of the total supply of BTC held by miners confirms Straten’s view. The indicator has dropped to 1.8 million BTC, matching the 2021 low.
A recent report by AMBCrypto also confirmed a decrease in the flow of BTC from miners to exchanges, indicating a reduction in BTC being sold off.
However, this also implies that future price increases will prompt miners to sell off at higher profits.
Another analyst, Willy Woo, also insists that miners are still crucial. “Removing these (miners) is necessary to get real long-term demand and supply. New investors, OG sellers, miners selling new supply in a rush. The fact is, they are still important.”
Meanwhile, the surrender of miners is far from over, and the hash rate remains low. One user pointed out that the current decline is the longest since the crypto winter of 2022.
“The hash rate continues to drop. This is the longest miners’ surrender period since the bottom of the 2022 bear market.”
Historically, whenever the hash rate rises, the price of BTC rebounds. If this trend continues, it may reinforce the idea that miners still have influence over the price of BTC.