Bitcoin News Today: Bitcoin Holders Dig In as Miners Face Tightening Margins

A record 14.3 million Bitcoin (BTC) are now considered illiquid, representing approximately 72% of the total supply currently in circulation, according to data from Glassnode. This figure reflects a 20,000 BTC increase in illiquid holdings over the past 30 days, indicating that long-term investors and entities storing Bitcoin in cold wallets continue to accumulate despite a 15% decline in price from the all-time high of $124,000 reached in mid-August. The persistent accumulation trend suggests strong investor confidence in Bitcoin as a long-term value store, even amid recent market corrections. The rise in illiquid supply could also indicate tightening supply dynamics, potentially setting the stage for renewed price momentum once sentiment stabilizes [1].

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has also reached a record high of 136 trillion, as reported by Blockchain.com, signaling increased competition for block rewards and higher operational costs for miners. The mean hash rate, while slightly lower than the all-time high of over 1 trillion set on August 4, remains elevated at 948.3 billion hashes per second as of September 6. This surge in difficulty reflects broader network participation and improved security, though it comes at the expense of miner profitability. The increasing complexity of mining underscores a long-term trend of consolidation in the mining industry, with larger entities and mining pools gaining a competitive edge [2].

Miners’ selling behavior remains a key point of interest as operational costs rise. The Miner Net Position Change indicator moved into negative territory at the end of August, pointing to increased selling pressure. However, the Puell Multiple—a metric indicating the health of the mining sector—remains in a healthy range, suggesting that miners are not yet forced to sell at distressed levels. Analyst Axel Adler Jr noted that the demand-supply balance for miners stood at 60%, indicating that current fee income and block rewards are sufficient to cover daily operational expenses without triggering panic selling [2].

The financial position of public Bitcoin mining companies also reflects broader market trends. As of September 2, these entities collectively hold 115,671 BTC, valued at approximately $12.89 billion. Marathon Digital Holdings leads the pack with 50,639 BTC, followed by Riot Platforms and CleanSpark. The data highlights the growing importance of institutional investment in Bitcoin, with public miners acting as both operators and holders. Despite Bitcoin’s recent price correction, these entities continue to hold substantial quantities of BTC, further supporting the narrative of sustained long-term accumulation [4].

Looking ahead, the combination of high mining difficulty and weaker revenue per unit of computing power—currently at $51, the lowest since June—poses a challenge for miners. Hashrate Index data shows that August’s average hashprice dropped to $56.44, while transaction fees collected by miners averaged 0.025 BTC per block, the lowest since 2011. These developments suggest that miners are operating on tighter margins, and without a meaningful increase in Bitcoin’s price or on-chain activity, further pressure on profitability could emerge. However, given the current miner equilibrium and demand-supply balance, it appears that capitulation is not imminent, and strategic selling is likely to persist [3].

Source: [1] Bitcoin Illiquid Supply Hits Record 14.3M as Long-Term Holders Continue to Accumulate (https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/09/07/bitcoin-illiquid-supply-hits-record-14-3m-as-long-term-holders-continue-to-accumulate) [2] Bitcoin Faces Tougher Mining Conditions: Will BTC's Selling Trend Reverse? (https://ambcrypto.com/bitcoin-faces-tougher-mining-conditions-will-btcs-selling-trend-reverse/) [3] Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits New Record As Miner Profitability Shrinks (https://www.mitrade.com/insights/news/live-news/article-3-1102398-20250908) [4] Bitcoin Holdings of Public Bitcoin Miners (https://bitbo.io/treasuries/miners/)