{"id":72092,"date":"2024-02-22T14:56:52","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T18:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/?p=72092"},"modified":"2024-02-22T14:56:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T18:56:55","slug":"bitcoin-miners-sell-35-9b-worth-of-btc-on-otc-desks-amid-etf-frenzy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/bitcoin-miners-sell-35-9b-worth-of-btc-on-otc-desks-amid-etf-frenzy\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Miners Sell $35.9B Worth of BTC on OTC Desks Amid ETF Frenzy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bitcoin miners have been selling their BTC holdings at a fast pace on OTC desks as they take advantage of the institutional demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bitcoin<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to Cryptoquant,\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/g>\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/clipPath>\r\n <\/defs><\/svg><\/span><\/a> miners have moved 700,000 BTC, worth $35.9 billion, to OTC desks in the past three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bitcoin miners are selling BTC quickly on OTC desks following the emergence of spot Bitcoin ETFs as they assume the role of market makers. Ki Young Ju, the founder and CEO of the on-chain analytical platform Cryptoquant, revealed startling data indicating a massive transfer of 700,000 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at $35.9 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These massive funds were moved to Over-The-Counter (OTC) desks utilized by miners over the past three weeks following the recent approval of the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OTC desks facilitate private and direct trades between buyers and sellers without going through a public exchange. Large-scale investors, such as institutions, hedge funds, or whales, often use OTC desks to avoid slippage, price impact, or market manipulation. OTC desks also offer more privacy, flexibility, and customization than public exchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miners are one of the major sources of supply and liquidity for the Bitcoin market, as they generate new bitcoins through mining. Miners also have an incentive to sell their bitcoins to cover their operational costs, such as electricity, hardware, and maintenance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, miners also have to balance their selling pressure with the market demand and price, as they want to maximize their profits and avoid crashing the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bitcoin Miners Capitalize on Spot Bitcoin ETF Demand<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An interesting development amidst this surge in trading activity is the observed increase in Bitcoin block size. According to an earlier report, the Bitcoin network has experienced a notable 40-50% increase in block size, attributed to heightened network activity driven by Bitcoin\u2019s recent rally. Ordinarily, an increase in block size often leads to higher transaction fees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, despite the increase in block size, there has been no major increase in fees, indicating that the huge volume of BTC purchasing and selling mostly drives the increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bitcoin mining difficulty has soared to 81.73T, with the network hashrate nearly doubling in the last 12 months from 303 EH\/s to an average of 577 EH\/s. This surge in difficulty, coupled with the increase in block size and BTC price, adds pressure on miners to sell their BTC holdings to cover operational costs and maintain profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the influx of institutional interest following the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs presents a unique opportunity to capitalize on their strategic position within the ecosystem. By leveraging their substantial holdings of Bitcoin, miners can facilitate large-scale OTC trades, providing liquidity and market access to institutional investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In doing so, they stand to benefit from lucrative transaction fees and potentially favorable pricing arrangements. This disposition might account for the large OTC Bitcoin volume, as pointed out in the chart shared by Young Ju.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

700K $BTC<\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a> has moved to OTC desks used by miners over the past three weeks following spot #Bitcoin<\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a> ETF approval.https:\/\/t.co\/beKpUVllNj<\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3F20yAxuX5<\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/p>— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) February 22, 2024<\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/blockquote>

Bitcoin Miners\u2019 Selling Pressure vs. Bitcoin ETFs\u2019 Buying Pressure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Despite concerns surrounding miner selling pressure and the potential impact on BTC price,<\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a> spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to witness outstanding inflows, with the latest net inflow totaling $631 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been a long-awaited and highly anticipated event for the crypto industry, as it signals a broader acceptance and recognition of cryptocurrency as a legitimate asset class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first spot Bitcoin ETF to launch in the U.S. was the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTFX)<\/a>, followed by the BlackRock Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTCR) and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs has been strong, as evidenced by the high trading volumes and inflows. According to data from Morningstar,<\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a> the three spot Bitcoin ETFs have traded over $1.5 billion in their first week of trading, surpassing the initial volumes of the first futures-based Bitcoin ETFs, such as the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) and the VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts believe that the BTC price rally will persist, fueled by demand from Bitcoin ETFs and derivatives traders. As of the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $51,360, reflecting a 0.96% increase in the past 24 hours, with a market capitalization exceeding $1 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the Bitcoin miners selling, experts have projected bullish price targets for BTC with forecasts as high as $301,000 before the coming halving event. The next halving event is expected to happen in May 2024, and it could create a supply shock and a price surge for Bitcoin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin miners have been selling their BTC holdings at a fast pace on OTC desks as they take advantage of the institutional demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs. According to Cryptoquant, miners have moved 700,000 BTC, worth $35.9 billion, to OTC desks in the past three weeks. Bitcoin miners are selling BTC quickly on OTC desks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":49829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[8220,1094],"class_list":["post-72092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-analysis","tag-otc","tag-bitcoin-miners"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/bitcoin-mining.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}