Bitcoin Miner Execs Under Fire: Shareholders Revolt Against Sky-High Pay Amid Record Equity Grants
Public Bitcoin mining execs just got caught with their hands in the cookie jar—again. Shareholders are slamming the brakes on outrageous compensation packages after discovering record-breaking equity grants.
Mining profits may fluctuate, but executive payouts? Those only go up. Here's how the industry's leadership is cashing in while retail investors pick up the tab.
When the music stops in this game of financial musical chairs, guess who's left standing without a seat? Hint: it's not the C-suite.
Say-on-pay votes show mounting resistance
CORZ, Riot, and Marathon (MARA) failed their 2025 advisory votes on compensation, garnering approval rates of only 38%, 32%, and 22%, respectively.
Industry-wide, six in eight companies missed the 70% support threshold that proxy adviser ISS flags as “low support,” a failure rate of 75% versus about 4% for the Russell 3000.
Investors also scrutinised dilution. Equity plan expansions equal to roughly 10% of the shares outstanding were approved at Terawulf and CORZ, while smaller increases were approved at Bit Digital, Hut 8, and MARA. Analysts warned that generous share reserves amplify insider dilution when awards vest on short timelines.
Gradual shift toward performance gating
Six of the eight miners now use performance stock units (PSUs) that vest on multi-year share price or total shareholder return targets, up from two in 2022. However, CleanSpark has yet to adopt PSUs, and Bit Digital has authorization but no issuance.
VanEck noted that most plans still rely on two to three-year vesting horizons and “as-achieved” equity, leaving alignment gaps with long-term value creation.
Comparing 2024 NEO pay with market cap gains shows stark dispersion: Riot’s $230 million aggregate NEO compensation equalled 73% of its market-cap increase, while Marathon’s 18% ratio and Core Scientific’s 2% ratio reflected better alignment.
VanEck concluded that boards can temper push-back by tying bonuses to cost-per-coin-mined to enforce operating discipline, linking long-term equity to return-on-capital metrics instead of absolute share-price targets, and extending vesting schedules and capping awards to curb dilution.
