Largest Bitcoin miner globally refrains from selling any BTC throughout June

Marathon Digital Holdings, the biggest Bitcoin mining company in the world, has held on to all its Bitcoin holdings over the past month, despite Bitcoin (
BTC
) being in a downward trend for the same period.
As of June, the company had a total of 18,536 Bitcoin valued at over $1.1 billion, according to the firm’s operations report released on July 3.
Marathon Digital stated that it plans to continue strengthening its Bitcoin holdings through open market BTC purchases and investing in “other opportunities to increase its Bitcoin yield.” However, it also mentioned that it might sell some of its BTC in the future.
The selling patterns of major holders, such as mining companies, can significantly impact the price of Bitcoin, especially since the 2024 Bitcoin halving, which may be forcing miners to sell more BTC due to the block rewards being halved.
Marathon, with a valuation of over $6.25 billion, is the largest Bitcoin mining company globally, surpassing the second-largest company, CleanSpark, by 62%. According to CompaniesMarketCap data, CleanSpark has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion.
Marathon Digital has doubled its operational hash rate year-over-year to 26.3 exahashes (EH/s) in June. The increase is mainly due to operational improvements in the Ellendale facility, which became fully operational at the beginning of July, according to Fred Thiel, the CEO and chairman of Marathon Digital. Thiel also stated that the firm’s expansion is in line with its target to reach 50EH/s by the end of 2024.
Bitcoin mining is becoming a promising renewable source of heating, and more companies are taking note after Marathon launched a pilot project that heats a town of 11,000 residents in Finland. The two-megawatt pilot project, located in the Satakunte region, uses a method called “district heating” which centrally heats the water and distributes it through an underground network of pipes to heat houses. This method could prove to be a future-proof way of heating homes, as Bitcoin mining rigs produce a significant amount of excess heat. According to Marathon Digital’s Thiel, mining Bitcoin-based heating systems could reduce carbon emissions and heating costs in the future.