Miners that hodl the most Bitcoin are ‘relentlessly expanding’

Published at: March 18, 2022

Bitcoin (BTC) miners are holding more and more Bitcoin while “relentlessly expanding” their operations in 2022.

A report by Arcane Research indicates that publicly listed Bitcoin miners are “constantly looking for expansion opportunities,” as they “plan to increase hashrate faster than the whole network in 2022.”

44.95% of the global hash rate derives from North American miners, according to the latest figures from the Cambridge Bitcoin electricity consumption index. With the massive projected increases in target hash rate among the publicly traded Bitcoin miners, it's "likely to increase."

Jaran Mellerud, an analyst for Arcane Research, told Cointelegraph that “most publicly listed miners pursue a hodl strategy, doing their best to keep as much they can of their mined Bitcoin.”

“This hodl strategy enables them to serve as Bitcoin investment vehicles for investors who want to own bitcoin indirectly through an investment structure.”

Whit Gibbs, the founder and CEO of Compass Mining explained to Cointelegraph that “public mining companies definitely have an advantage when it comes to hodling Bitcoin because they have access to the capital markets.”

“They don't need to liquidate their Bitcoin in order to buy more machines, increase their rack space, etc.. They're able to go to the capital markets and get that money to continue to expand. So they're able to hold large positions in Bitcoin.”

Some of the largest miners hold huge amounts of Bitcoin, Gibbs adds "it's crazy how much some of them are holding." As published on BitcoinTreasuries, Bitcoin mining company Marathon hold the third-largest amount of Bitcoin among businesses worldwide, right behind Tesla and Microstrategy.

Since January 2021, miners’ reserves have been steadily increasing, reflective of their HODL strategy. Gibbs suggests that the publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies are "taking more of a bullish approach to Bitcoin. "

"The companies are looking at Bitcoin on their balance sheet as a way to drive up their market valuations."

Mellerud also understands that Bitcoin mining stocks are increasingly popular in legacy financial markets. “The demand for bitcoin investment vehicles is high, particularly in the U.S., since the Bitcoin ETF market is immature." The Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) saga is an Achilles heel to the network: successive Bitcoin ETF applications have been rejected.

While market interest for Bitcoin miners swells, Mellerud sums up why the mining business model is attractive and effective, echoing Gibbs' comments:

"Miners are some of the biggest Bitcoin bulls out there, and they utilize the highly developed equity and debt markets in the U.S. to raise money to pay for their expansions and operating expenses, allowing them to keep the Bitcoin they mine."

Bitcoin Miner Hut 8, for example, recently posted record revenues, with its overall BTC holdings surging by 100%. 2022 may not be the year of the bull, but it's certainly a good time to publicly mine the orange coin.