Over 100% Profit, Zero Selling: What Are Bitcoin Miners Waiting For?

Even though the price of Bitcoin has more than doubled their production costs, miners are not selling their holdings. That is what Ki Young Ju, the CEO of CryptoQuant, recently highlighted with the Marathon Digital (MARA) example.

The company right now is mining Bitcoin at around $51,700 per coin, while $BTC is trading above $105,000. Even though these margins are big, on-chain data shows miners are mostly holding, not selling.

If you look closely at MARA's operational costs, you will see what Ju means. In the first quarter of 2025, it cost the company an average of $51,726 to produce one $BTC. The figure was determined using operational hashrate instead of theoretical full capacity.

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin market price continues to float well over the $100,000 level. That is almost double the profit and yet the pressure to sell is still really low.

Miners did not rush to liquidate even when revenue from fees and block rewards dropped to multi-year lows back in June. No need to be Sherlock Holmes to understand that they are either optimistic about the long-term potential or that they are holding onto their investments for a good reason.

Why?

There are a few reasons why this might be happening. Bigger miners might be counting on future price growth, using mined $BTC as collateral, or just having a stronger financial position after the 2024 halving. The operational hash rate has also been growing, going from 6.9 EH/s in early 2023 to 46.1 EH/s in 2025, which points to increased efficiency and capacity — meaning there is less pressure to sell.

The main take away: Bitcoin miners are not just reactive sellers chasing price spikes, as in the past.

In this cycle, they are acting more like long-term participants than short-term profit-takers. Mining costs are steady, and market prices are going up. Thus, their conviction might be tested only if margins start getting tight again. For now, they are holding strong.