32,000: this is the number of bitcoins that the main miners listed on the stock exchange liquidated in the first quarter of 2026 alone. According to TheEnergyMag, this figure exceeds all sales for 2025. Quick decryption: the bitcoin mining market is currently going through a structural rupture.
In brief
- According to TheEnergyMag (April 16, 2026): Listed bitcoin miners collectively sold 32,000 BTC in Q1 2026, an all-time high.
- According to Hashrate Index: the hashprice is $33/PH/s.
- According to CoinShares (Q1 2026 report): approximately 20% of the mining network operates in deficit areas.
- According to CryptoQuant: the Bitcoin Miner Reserve increased from 1.86 million BTC (end of 2023) to 1.8 million BTC.
Bitcoin: why did miners sell a record volume of BTC in a single quarter?
The answer lies in a single number: $33/PH/s. This is the current hashprice level according to Hashrate Index, the key profitability metric in bitcoin mining.
Having fallen below the critical threshold of $35/PH/s in July 2025, it has not risen again. For operators running older generation ASICs, this level corresponds to the balance point: below, each mined block costs more than it brings in.
THE bitcoin mining companies concerned are among the largest in the sector:
- MARA;
- CleanSpark;
- Riot;
- Cango;
- Core Scientific;
- Bitdeer.
They collectively sold more than 32,000 BTC in Q1 2026, according to TheEnergyMag. This volume exceeds the 20,000 BTC sold during the Q2 2022 bear market. The latter was triggered by the Terra-Luna collapse, one of the darkest episodes for digital assets. According to TheMinerMag, it would therefore be a “new record” for a single quarter.
This wave of forced sales occurs in a context of triple pressure:
- a constantly increasing global hashrate (more competitors for the same block reward);
- increasing energy costs;
- a bitcoin price which is struggling to cross $75,000 sustainably.
According to CoinShares in its Q1 2026 report :
We anticipate increased capitulation among high-cost operators in H1 2026 unless the BTC price recovers significantly.
Who resists and who capitulates in bitcoin mining today?
The sector clearly divides into two camps. On one side, the miners who sell to survive. On the other, treasury companies which buy to capitalize.
Strategy, Michael Saylor's firm, embodies this second group. On April 13, 2026, Saylor shared his historical bitcoin purchase chart on X with two words: “Think bigger. » For the crypto community, this signal systematically precedes a new acquisition.
According to CryptoQuantTHE Bitcoin Miner Reserve (an indicator measuring all BTC held by miners) has been in decline since 2023. It has in fact gone from 1.86 million BTC at the end of 2023 to around 1.8 million BTC today. Each difficult quarter thus erodes reserves, tilting mined bitcoin towards the market rather than towards company cash flow.
For crypto investors exposed to the crypto sector bitcoin miningthe question is direct: if the hashprice remains below $35/PH/s in Q2 2026, how many operators will be forced to close or merge? According to CoinShares, the answer depends almost entirely on the price of BTC. It is therefore not just a mining crisis, but an advanced barometer of the health of digital assets in the broad sense.
In any case, this bitcoin news from April 16, 2026 illustrates a structural break. Weakened miners sell. Treasury companies are accumulating. For investors, the issue is clear: monitor the hashprice as an advanced barometer of the bitcoin market.
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