Key points:
- Bitcoin miners are displaying unusual behavior in 2025 as BTC reaches repeated all-time highs.
- Major mining firms are increasing their reserves, while veteran miners have significantly reduced their sales compared to 2024.
- Despite soaring prices, research indicates that miners remain “extremely underpaid” at current levels.
Since April, Bitcoin miners have added 4,000 BTC to their reserves, even as BTC hits new all-time highs.
Fresh research from on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant also highlights a sharp decline in sales by “Satoshi-era” miners.
“Severely underpaid” Bitcoin miners are holding off on selling
Bitcoin miners are clinging to their BTC reserves, even as they remain “extremely underpaid” at current price levels.
CryptoQuant’s latest research reveals that mining conditions remain challenging, despite BTC/USD hovering just below all-time highs.
“Miners are currently experiencing the lowest compensation in the past year, with daily revenues dropping to two-month lows,” the firm noted in its Weekly Report.
“The Daily revenue fell to $34 million on June 22, the lowest since April 20 2025, due to lower transaction fees and the recent decline in the price of Bitcoin.”
The Bitcoin network hashrate has dropped 3.5% over the past 10 days — the steepest decline since July 2024, which followed the latest block subsidy halving that slashed miner rewards by 50%.
“Despite the drop in revenue, miner selling remains subdued,” the report added.
“Miner outflows have dropped from a daily peak of 23K BTC in February 2025 to roughly 6K BTC as of today. Moreover, there have not been any days with extremely high outflows since February, and Bitcoin transferred directly from miners to exchanges has also remained low.”
CryptoQuant attributes the ongoing “hodl” trend among miners to their overall operating margin of 48%.
Miners holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC have collectively increased their reserves by 4,000 BTC since April’s local price lows, bringing the total to 65,000 BTC — the highest level since last November, when selling accelerated as Bitcoin surpassed its previous all-time high of $73,800.
“Satoshi-era” miners shift to accumulation mode
Despite soaring prices, the oldest Bitcoin miners are breaking with tradition in 2025. Rather than cashing in during bull market rallies, “Satoshi-era” miners are keeping their selling to a minimum — even less than in 2024.
“Selling from Satoshi-era miners remains low. They’ve offloaded just 150 BTC so far in 2025, compared to nearly 10,000 BTC in 2024,” CryptoQuant notes.
“Historically, old miners from the Satoshi-era usually move their coins after a strong price rally, indicating a potential market top.”
Earlier in June, Cointelegraph highlighted a classic “buy” signal from the Hash Ribbons indicator, which identifies local BTC price bottoms by tracking phases of miner capitulation.
