Bitcoin miners sell record 32,000 BTC in Q1 2026 amid losses

Public miners sold a record stash of bitcoin in Q1 2026. Selling outpaced every quarter of 2025.

They unloaded more than 32,000 BTC in three months. That tops the prior quarterly record of ~20,000 BTC from Q2 2022, set during the Terra–Luna crash. Source: TheEnergyMag.

Pressure is coming from tougher competition and lower post-halving rewards. Hashrate keeps climbing, squeezing margins. Background on hashrate: Investopedia. Drivers cited here: TheEnergyMag.

Bitcoin held by miners keeps draining. Reserves fell from over 1.86 million BTC at end-2023 to about 1.8 million now. Data: CryptoQuant.

Treasury buyers stepped in as miners stepped back. Strategy continued to add, and co-founder Michael Saylor hinted at another buy this week. Sources: Strategy, NewsBTC, Saylor’s tweet.

Key numbers
- 32,000+ BTC sold by public miners in Q1 2026 TheEnergyMag
- Prior record ~20,000 BTC in Q2 2022 TheEnergyMag
- Miner reserves down to ~1.8m BTC from 1.86m+ since 2023 CryptoQuant