The Main Players in Structural Selling Are Not Just DAT Companies｜HashHub Research

Table of Contents

1. DAT Sales Are Situational, Miners' Sales Are Constant
2. The AI Pivot Turns Unstoppable Selling into Expanding Selling
3. Conclusion

On May 31, 2026, Strategy sold 32 BTC, amounting to approximately $2.5 million, which is merely 0.004% of its holdings. Nevertheless, the market perceived this symbolically due to concerns that the largest DAT (Digital Asset Treasury) companies, which had been buyers during downturns, might finally become sellers.

However, just a few days later, Strategy repurchased 1,550 BTC, maintaining a net buying position year-to-date. Other major DAT companies, such as Metaplanet and Twenty One Capital, have also shown no significant selling, opting instead to increase their holdings or maintain them in 2026.

In contrast, during the first quarter of 2026, publicly listed Bitcoin miners sold over 32,000 BTC. Excluding unreported earnings, the actual figure is likely to exceed this amount, approximately 1,000 times Strategy's 32 BTC. While the numbers from a single company over a few days and the industry over a quarter do not match, the difference is still significant.

It is not surprising that miners sell Bitcoin as part of their business structure. However, the shift towards AI and HPC (High-Performance Computing) data centers, funded by substantial capital investments and debt, is transforming this routine selling into a more pronounced and expansive selling trend. This article posits that the focus as structural sellers should be on miners rather than DAT companies.

DAT Sales Are Situational, Miners' Sales Are Constant

Both DAT companies and miners hold large amounts of Bitcoin, but their approaches are fundamentally different.

DAT companies acquire Bitcoin by raising dollars in capital markets and building up their stock. Therefore, their selling is limited to liquidation when procurement is constrained, and they can buy more once stock prices recover.

Miners, on the other hand, invest in electricity and equipment to produce Bitcoin monthly, operating on a flow basis through cashing out. Their selling is integrated as a constant cashing out, and as long as they continue mining, they remain sellers.

This difference in nature creates a precarious situation. In February, CleanSpark sold nearly all of the 568 BTC it mined, totaling 553 BTC. During downturns, some companies increase their selling ratios to maintain working capital.

The direction of selling can change from year to year. In 2024, following the halving, major miners were net buyers, with the industry as a whole adding a net of +17,593 BTC. In 2025, disclosed figures remained in the thousands of BTC per quarter.

The turning point came in the first quarter of 2026. The selling volume exceeded 32,000 BTC, reaching a record high, surpassing the approximately 21,000 BTC sold during the collapse of Terra-Luna in 2022. Moreover, the primary reason was not cashing out mined Bitcoin but rather liquidating holdings.

MARA allocated 15,133 BTC (approximately $1.1 billion) of the 20,880 BTC it sold to repurchase corporate bonds, while Cango sold most of its holdings (about 7,000 BTC) for collateral repayment and AI conversion. The entities that had been accumulating are now shifting to liquidation.

This trend has not stopped entering Q2. CleanSpark sold nearly all of its production in May, and MARA has begun selling its holdings in 2026, reducing its holdings by over 30% year-to-date.

The AI Pivot Turns Unstoppable Selling into Expanding Selling

New pressures are now compounding the miners' constant selling: the transition to AI and HPC data centers.

This transition has been framed as a narrative of rescuing miners from thin profits in mining to robust revenues from AI computing demand. However, it requires significant capital investment, primarily funded through debt.

IREN holds approximately $3.69 billion in convertible bonds, while Cipher has about $3.73 billion in senior secured bonds (as of March 2026). The aforementioned bond repurchase selling by MARA serves as a precedent, and Core Scientific also sold 2,385 BTC in the first quarter.

Capital investments are being front-loaded with debt. If repayment deadlines arrive without generating revenue due to construction delays or unacquired tenants, the primary resource available is the Bitcoin on hand.

Looking at stock prices, mining stocks significantly outperformed Bitcoin in 2026. While Bitcoin has declined year-to-date, companies like Hut 8, TeraWulf, and Riot have seen increases ranging from tens of percent to over 100%.

This divergence suggests that stock prices are factoring in AI transitions rather than mining operations. In fact, MARA, which has the highest selling volume and is evaluated purely as a mining operation, has lagged in stock price, while Hut 8 and TeraWulf, which are advancing AI transitions, have led the way. Particularly in early May 2026, Hut 8 secured an investment-grade tenant and signed a lease for an AI data center worth approximately $9.8 billion, causing its stock price to surge nearly 30% in a single day. IREN also added a contract with Nvidia worth about $3.4 billion, resulting in a nearly 10% increase, as announcements of large AI contracts continued.

VanEck notes that the market is pricing companies caught between a shrinking mining business and an AI business that does not yet generate sufficient cash flow. Companies with contracted AI leases are receiving valuations more than ten times based on operational power. Stock prices are effectively borrowing against the success of AI transitions.

If the borrowed expectations fall short, a loop similar to what was discussed with Strategy may begin to circulate among miners as well. If stock prices fall, procurement costs rise, making it difficult to raise funds through new shares or bonds. The remaining resource will be the sale of held Bitcoin. Given the foundation of constant selling, this could lead to a deeper bottom than DAT companies.

If the reverse rotation of DAT signifies a "disappearance of buyers," the reverse rotation of miners indicates an "increase in selling momentum."

Conclusion

The discussion of structural sellers has been overly focused on DAT companies. While DAT sales may ease when capital markets open, miners' sales will continue as long as mining persists, compounded by the debt-dependent funding needs of the AI pivot. The market has focused on Strategy's 32 BTC, but in terms of selling pressure scale, the miners selling 1,000 times that amount deserve closer attention.

However, this is not a permanent selling pressure but should be viewed as a headwind during a transition period. Companies that secure investment-grade tenants and can operate capacity on schedule to cover debts with AI revenues will exit from liquidation of holdings, while those unable to do so will increasingly rely on Bitcoin sales for repayment, concentrating selling pressure over time.

On the demand side, treasury companies continue to buy, which presents a manageable and limited risk for investors, and can be interpreted as the Bitcoin mining sector transitioning to the next growth axis.

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