The amount of Bitcoin (BTC) held by miners has sunk to its lowest level in over 14 years, according to data from blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock, which shows that miner reserves fell to 1.9 million BTC, down from 1.95 million at the beginning of the year.
This is notably the smallest stockpile of Bitcoin miners have held since February 2010, shortly after the flagship cryptocurrency was launched and was trading at around $0.05 per token, compared to its current value of over $65,000.
Analysts point to the recent Bitcoin halving as a key driver of this decline. The halving, which occurs roughly every four years, halves the number of new coins miners receive in the coinbase reward when they find a new block with the latest halving slashing rewards per blockfrom 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.
This pressures miner margins, incentivizing them to sell a larger portion of their holdings to cover operational costs, as Cointelegraph reported. The drop comes as IntoTheBlock notes that over 89% of BTC holders are currently in a state of profit.
However, despite the drop in Bitcoin holdings, the total value of miner reserves remains near record highs when measured in US dollars over the recent price appreciation of the flagship cryptocurrency over the past year.
Bitcoin miner holdings have also dropped as BTC whales are accumulating, to the point the holdings of wallets with 10 or more BTC are now at a two-year high at around 16.16 million BTC, or 82% of the cryptocurrency’s supply.
Notably some have suggested that tracking Bitcoin whales could be “useless” for cryptocurrency traders, as whale movements can easily be misinterpreted and fail to be a reliable indicator of market trends.
Analysts have cautioned against using whale metrics as actionably market insights, as often the data may be incomplete or needing additional context.
Binance CEO Richard Teng has recently shared that he believes the flagship cryptocurrency will surpass the $80,000 mark before the end of 2024. However, his outlook for 2025 is even more bullish, as he expects improving macroeconomic conditions to create a more favorable environment for the crypto industry as a whole.
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