Bitcoin Faces Supply Tug-Of-War While RIOT, MARA Sell And Strategy Keeps Buying

• Marathon Digital Riot Platforms ramped up Bitcoin sales on Tuesday, with Arkham flagging fresh transfers.
• Michael Saylor's Strategy accrues $4,871 BTC, worth $330 million, despite a $14.5 billion unrealized loss in the first quarter.
• HODL Waves shows increased high-conviction ownership as miners sell to maintain balance sheets despite falling prices.

Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) on Tuesday seem to be selling more and more, even as Michael Saylor's Strategy (MSTR) is doubling down on buying, despite losing nearly $15 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026.

Arkham, a blockchain analytics platform, flagged new transactions from both miners. Marathon was seen moving about 200 BTC to a wallet historically linked to selling, whereas Riot is said to have sold another $34.8 million worth of Bitcoin, bringing its total sales for April to about $102 million. Riot previously announced that it sold $250 million in Bitcoin in the first quarter and reported a 72% spike in revenue for 2025. 

MARA’s stock was down over 1% in pre-market hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around MARA remained in the ‘neutral’ zone over the past day, with chatter at ‘low’ levels. 

While RIOT’s stock was down over 2% in premarket trade. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment remained in the ‘bullish’ zone, while chatter around RIOT rose to ‘normal’ from ‘low’ levels over the past day.

The activity isn’t a standalone incident but a broader trend among crypto mining companies that have been selling BTC to keep their balance sheets in order, especially when prices have been dampened.

Strategy's $14.5 Billion Paper Loss 

In this context, Strategy reported an unrealized loss of roughly $14.5 billion in Q1 2026, primarily due to a nearly 22% decline in Bitcoin's price. The loss was somewhat mitigated by a $2.4 billion deferred tax advantage. 

MSTR’s stock was down over 2% in pre-market trade. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around MSTR dropped to ‘bearish' from’ bullish’, while chatter remained at ‘high’ levels over the past day. 

 

However, Saylor's business remains unfazed. On Monday, Strategy announced that it added 4,871 BTC worth over $330 million. The sustained purchase raises an important market question: whether Strategy's aggressive accumulation will reverse the diminishing technical signals?

Under normal circumstances, a bear flag pattern indicates further downside, reflecting insufficient demand to reverse a larger slump. However, Bitcoin is currently exhibiting a distinct setup.

According to analyst Benjamin Cowen, the number of high-conviction holders is rising, as evidenced by Bitcoin's HODL Waves. The older supply bands remain high, which means long-term investors are mostly holding on rather than selling aggressively, unlike the Bitcoin miners. Moreover, Bitcoin ETFs have also seen inflows for the second consecutive week, with $471.32 million in weekly total net inflows. 

Read also: Bitcoin’s Retreat From $70,000 Drags MSTR, BMNR, ASST, COIN Stocks Lower After Monday’s Rally

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