Miners Holding the Most Bitcoin Are 'Constantly Expanding'

Bitcoin (BTC) miners are holding more and more bitcoins while "scaling" their operations in 2022.

A report from Arcane Research suggests that publicly traded bitcoin miners are “constantly looking for expansion opportunities” as they “plan to increase hashrate faster than the entire network by 2022.”

According to the latest data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, 44.95% of the world’s hash power comes from North American miners. It "may increase" as publicly traded bitcoin miners' target hashrate is expected to increase significantly.

Jaran Mellerud, an analyst at Arcane Research, told Cointelegraph, “Most publicly listed miners are pursuing a holding strategy, doing their best to keep as much Bitcoin as possible.”

“This holding strategy allows them to serve as bitcoin investment vehicles for investors who wish to own bitcoin indirectly through an investment structure.”

“Public mining companies definitely have an advantage in holding bitcoin because they have access to capital markets,” Compass Mining founder and CEO Whit Gibbs explained to Cointelegraph.

“They don’t need to liquidate their bitcoins in order to buy more machines, add rack space, etc. They are able to access the capital markets and get funding to continue to expand. As a result, they are able to take large positions in bitcoin.”

Gibbs added that some of the biggest miners hold a lot of Bitcoin, "It's crazy how much some of them hold." As posted on BitcoinTreasuries, Bitcoin mining firm Marathon holds The third largest Bitcoin, after Tesla and MicroStrategy.

Miners' reserves have been steadily increasing since January 2021, reflecting their holding strategies. Gibbs said that publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies are "taking a more bullish stance on Bitcoin."

“These companies are looking at bitcoin on their balance sheets as a way to boost market valuations.”

Mellerud also learned that bitcoin mining stocks are gaining popularity in traditional financial markets. “Demand for bitcoin investment vehicles is high, especially in the U.S., as the bitcoin exchange-traded fund market is immature.” The bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) story is the network’s Achilles’ heel as serial bitcoin ETF applications have all been rejected.

While market interest in bitcoin miners is on the rise, Mellerud summed up why the mining business model is attractive and effective, echoing Gibbs' comments:

“Miners are some of the biggest bitcoin bulls out there, using the highly developed U.S. equity and debt markets to raise capital to pay for their expansion and operations, allowing them to keep the bitcoin they mine.”

For example, Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 recently posted record revenue as its overall BTC holdings soared 100%. 2022 may not be the year of the ox, but it is certainly a good time to openly mine Bitcoin.