Mining company Riot Platforms sold 3,778 bitcoins for $289.5 million in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting a growing trend of mass exits by miners from the market due to challenging market conditions.
This is reported by Business • Media
“In Q1, the company sold assets worth $289.5 million at an average price of $76,626.”
According to the operational report, the average selling price of one BTC was $76,626. At the time of the report’s release, the price of bitcoin had dropped to approximately $66,800, demonstrating the market’s rapid volatility.
During the same period, the company mined 1,473 BTC, leaving Riot Platforms with a balance of 15,680 BTC. The analytical platform Arkham also recorded an additional outflow of 500 BTC from wallets associated with the company.
Increased Sell-offs Among Miners
Riot Platforms is not the only company ramping up bitcoin sales. In just the past week, MARA Holdings, Genius Group, and Nakamoto Holdings collectively sold 15,501 BTC, with the largest share coming from MARA’s sales.
Market experts link the active asset sell-off to a significant rise in energy costs. Increasing prices for electricity and fuel make cryptocurrency mining less profitable, forcing companies to sell their reserves. An additional burden is created by the unstable geopolitical situation: oil prices have risen due to the conflict in the Middle East, and the instability in the cryptocurrency market has only intensified.
Decline in the Number of Miners and Market Changes
In light of these events, some less efficient miners are shutting down their equipment, leading to a decrease in hash rate and a drop in mining difficulty. This opens up additional opportunities for more powerful and efficient market participants, resulting in a rapid decline in the number of mining companies in the sector.
According to CloverPool, as of March 20, 2026, the mining difficulty of bitcoin decreased by 7.76% to a level of 133.79 T, while the average network hash rate was around 874 EH/s.
At the same time, analysts note that if energy prices decrease or the bitcoin price recovers, some miners may return to operation, which would again intensify competition and impact business profitability.
It was previously reported that Bitfarms completely ceased mining after incurring losses of $285 million.