The biggest Bitcoin miners lost $ 1.5 billion in three months

The three largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies in the US lost close to $1.5 billion in the second quarter due to depreciation in the crypto market.

According to their latest quarterly earnings reports, Core Scientific, Marathon Digital Holdings, and Riot Blockchain reported net losses of $862 million, $192 million, and $366 million, respectively, in the second quarter ended June 30. The biggest reason for companies to lose is the loss of value of up to 60 percent in Bitcoin.

Although the crypto mining market has eased in recent weeks, stocks of companies have been falling this year. As miners struggled to pay off debt and cover operating costs, they had to leave their Bitcoin hoarding positions and sell Bitcoin.

As Bloomberg reports, analyst Jarand Mellerud wrote in a research note, “Miners are still dumping their Bitcoin holdings at a higher-than-production rate. “Miners sold 6,200 Bitcoins in July, and this July was the second most Bitcoin-sold month in 2022.”

Mellerud said that its biggest miners sold 14,600 cryptocurrencies and produced 3,900 cryptocurrencies in June. Core Scientific sold about 80 percent of its Bitcoins in June to cover operational costs and fund expansion. 

Bitfarms sold almost half of its assets to pay off a $100 million loan in the same month. Miners take on more debt and sell their assets and mining rigs to stay afloat. For example, a company called Marathon had to sell its mining rigs for $58 million.

Miners weren't the only ones who took major hits in the last quarter. The largest US crypto exchange, Coinbase Global, also lost $1.1 billion, while MicroStrategy posted a net loss of more than $1 billion.

(source)