Publicly listed bitcoin miners have sold roughly 28,000 BTC worth $1.78 billion this year, an under-recognized source of selling pressure alongside ETF outflows and long-dormant wallets. Onchain data points to seller exhaustion near $64,000, though no bottom is confirmed, while a Senate procedural vote on the CLARITY Act pushed to September 15 keeps the next clear catalyst weeks away.
Bitcoin has tanked 27% since the start of 2026 to just under $64,000, underperforming every major asset, including the S&P 500 Index. The decline traces mainly to withdrawals from U.S.-listed spot ETFs and selling by long-dormant holders and digital-asset treasury companies.
Miners add an overlooked $1.78 billion in supply
Publicly listed miners held a combined 127,000 BTC at the start of the year. That figure has since fallen to 99,000 BTC, meaning these firms have sold 28,000 BTC, worth $1.78 billion at current prices, according to data tracked by Blockware Intelligence.
That volume is smaller than the ETF outflows, but price is set at the margin, and steady selling from miners facing squeezed margins can weigh on a market where buying interest is already soft. The average cost to produce one bitcoin now sits at $74,300, pushing a growing number of miners toward AI pivots. Mining difficulty has fallen about 18% from its November peak, the longest stretch of declining hashrate, easing competition and boosting rewards for miners that remain.
Sellers show signs of fatigue, but no bottom yet
Onchain analytics firm Glassnode said bitcoin sellers appear to be running out of steam, though it stopped short of confirming the cycle's bottom. Bitcoin spent the first half of August 2026 trading between $63,500 and $65,000. Bitfinex's research desk noted that 54.6% of circulating bitcoin supply currently sits in profit, a level historically tied to the tail end of corrections. Spot ETFs still bled $144.67 million after a five-day inflow streak broke, and a Wintermute trader tied any recovery case to bitcoin clearing $65,000 resistance.
September 15 is the next clear catalyst
Bitcoin's retreat also coincided with confirmation that the CLARITY Act would not get a Senate vote before August recess, pushing the next Senate step, a procedural cloture vote, to September 15. A failed cloture vote would be a clean negative signal, while a successful one would only keep the legislative process moving without settling disputes over ethics provisions, illicit-finance rules, and stablecoin treatment.
Sources: CoinDesk, Bitcoin.com News, ActionForex
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