OCTA: Things Are Melting Up Quietly 
Journalist
Posted:
- Bitcoin miners face some pressure but current market conditions could still be considered workable.
- Bitcoin miner reserves stand at a premium compared to YTD lows.
The state of Bitcoin mining often reflects on how the network is fairing, as well as the level of market activity at any given time. As such, looking into how Bitcoin miners have been fairing could offer a rough idea of the network’s health.
Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] price prediction 2023-24
CryptoQuant analyst Mignolet claimed that cost pressures were among the biggest challenge that Bitcoin miners were facing. The claim is based on an analysis of Bitcoin’s miner position index (MPI). The same metric is used to indicate the level of pressure that miners are facing in terms of cost pressures.
Source: Cryptoquant
The latest MPI upside (indicated by the blue square) highlighted the surging pressure on miners. However, it is not yet close to the red line where the market is considered to be overheated. It is at that zone that miners feel the pressure to sell their coins to cover their operating costs.
Current market conditions still support miner profitability
Interestingly, the MPI did cool down more recently. This coincided with a surge in miner revenue in the last 10 days.
Source: Glassnode
The miner revenue uptick reflected the activity observed recently. Bitcoin’s price action might have dipped but there is still a lot of activity taking place. Despite the above observation, the pressure that miners have been facing was still evident in some of the metrics.
One of the best examples is Bitcoin’s miner reserve metric which registered some downside since the last week of August. Furthermore, it was worth noting that the miner reserve outflows leveled out at the start of September.
Source: CryptoQuant
Note that Bitcoin miner reserves are still notably higher than they were at the lowest year-to-date levels in June. There is still a possibility that miners might be forced to sell if sell pressure continues.
This is because miners are usually incentivized to HODL when there are bullish prospects. Another crash would send the market into a state of FUD, thus discouraging participation. The potential outcome would be low transactions, hence lower revenue for miners.
Is your portfolio green? Check out the Bitcoin Profit Calculator
An assessment of Bitcoin miner flows revealed that both the inflows and outflows and inflows reverted to their monthly lows.
Source: CryptoQuant
The low Bitcoin miner flows could be explained by the current uncertainty. The miner revenue was also seen slowing down hence the lower miner inflows. On the other hand, miners are still optimistic about the potential upside, especially after Bitcoin’s recent dip hence the expectations of higher future prices that would yield more profit.
