Riot Offloads $38.8M in Bitcoin—Halving Heat or Cost Crunch?

Mining giant Riot just dumped $38.8M worth of BTC—timed suspiciously close to the halving squeeze. Was it strategic foresight or a desperate liquidity grab?

Behind the move: Energy costs are spiking, and post-halving rewards got cut in half. Even the big players feel the pinch when the Bitcoin printer slows down.

Bonus cynicism: Nothing says ’bullish long-term holder’ like selling at the first sign of turbulence. Wall Street would be proud.

To reinforce its liquidity position, Riot recently secured a $100 million Bitcoin-backed credit line from Coinbase Credit. The loan provides flexible funding tied to Riot’s BTC holdings and will support key strategic initiatives. Les called it a “non-dilutive” financing option with favorable terms.

Riot’s move reflects a broader trend among miners, many of whom are being forced to part with more of their Bitcoin reserves to stay afloat. On April 7, the sector saw a massive selloff—15,000 BTC were unloaded in a single day, making it one of the largest daily outflows this year, according to CryptoQuant. The combination of higher energy costs, increased competition, and recent price fluctuations NEAR $94,000 continues to test the durability of mining firms, many of which rely on consistently high BTC prices to maintain profitability.