Bitcoin BTC
+5.23%
It topped $45,000 on Thursday as selling pressure from miners began to ease, according to on-chain data.
The largest publicly traded U.S. Bitcoin mining company has continued to increase its Bitcoin holdings, according to on-chain data, according to CryptoQuant. For example, CryptoQuant’s chart shows that Marathon Digital’s Bitcoin holdings have steadily increased over the past few months.
Bitcoin selling pressure eases
In its weekly report, CryptoQuant said mining selling pressure has decreased following a strong selling period in November and December 2023. “Miners’ daily sales have declined from over 800 bitcoins per day in November-December 2023 to less than 300 bitcoins per day so far in 2024,” he said.
CryptoQuant analysts added that miners are holding on to their reserves despite a decline in profits from Bitcoin network fees. “Bitcoin miner selling pressure has remained low so far in 2024, even after daily fees fell 90% from all-time highs in December. The sharp decline in fees is linked to lower network activity due to fewer transactions taking place in Inscription and BRC20 tokens. There is Mint,” the report added.
The number of transactions on the Bitcoin network has fallen from a daily high of 731,000 in late December to a current three-month low of 278,000, according to data from CryptoQuant.
The rewards miners receive for creating valid blocks and processing transactions have declined compared to multi-year highs last December, according to The Block’s data dashboard.
Liquidations surge as Bitcoin rises
Bitcoin price rebounded above $45,000 as volatile price action led to the liquidation of more than $114 million in leveraged cryptocurrency positions.
Price action led to the liquidation of more than $49 million in Bitcoin leveraged positions, according to Coinglass data. The majority of BTC liquidations, totaling approximately $47 million, were short sales.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization rose more than 4% over the past 24 hours to $45,133 at 9:35 a.m. ET, according to The Block’s pricing page.
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