Bitcoin Miner Riot Platforms Sells 475 BTC in April, Deviating from Its 100% HODL Strategy

Leading crypto miner Riot Platforms has made its single-largest monthly Bitcoin sale since its inception, with a 475 BTC dump in April. Riot Platform, the second-largest publicly traded crypto miner, announced selling Bitcoin in April. Per the Monday disclosure, it sold 475 BTC at an average price of $81,731, realizing net proceeds of $38.8 million. The April Bitcoin sales marked Riot Platforms' first major unload since January 2024, when it announced its 100% HODL strategy. Furthermore, it was also its largest single-month Bitcoin liquidation in its eight-year mining history. Miner Adjusts to New Difficulty Meanwhile, Riot announced mining 463 BTC in April, down by 70 BTC from March’s 533 BTC. However, it sold all mined bitcoins and an additional 12 BTC from its reserve. With the liquidation, the leading miner holds 19,211 BTC as of April 30, worth $1.8 trillion at the current market price.

In a statement accompanying the disclosure, Riot’s CEO Jason Les noted that the 13% reduction in mined Bitcoin followed two successive difficulty adjustments. For perspective, mining difficulty changed twice in April, including an increase to a record-setting 123.23 trillion at block height 893,088 on April 19. The adjustment saw mining difficulty grow an impressive 8% between March and April, further hampering profitability among miners. While the difficulty has declined slightly since the start of May, reduced miner output makes Bitcoin scarcer, a variable that impacts prices at a constant or increased demand. Bitcoin Sales, a Business Decision: CEO Furthermore, Les disclosed that the Bitcoin sales funded ongoing expansion and operation costs. He noted that Riot rounded off the $185 million acquisition of Rhodium Encore at its Rockdale Facility in April, assuming tangible assets such as the 125 MW power resource. Hence, Bitcoin sales were Riot’s “best funding source,” as it opted to ensure a strong balance sheet without compromising stock strength. Meanwhile, the miner will continue to monitor the market and employ available tools to sustain its business operation alongside its Bitcoin strategy. Interestingly, this strategy counteracts the schemes other publicly traded crypto miners like Marathon Digital (MARA) employ. For context, the leading crypto miner by Bitcoin balance recently announced it was raising $2 billion to buy more BTC and fund operations. Recall that Riot reported total revenue of $161.4 million in Q1 2024, of which $71.5 million came from its mining activities.