Core

United

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Bitcoin

<ul class="list-ic vertical">
 <li>1 <a>14 publicly traded Bitcoin miners were included in the research.</a></li>
 <li>2 <a>Marathon Digital holds the most Bitcoin amongst institutional crypto miners.</a></li>
</ul>
Riot Platforms might have become the biggest crypto miner by market cap, but Marathon Digital Holdings holds the most number of Bitcoin (BTC) globally. Both companies contribute significantly to the hashrate being produced in the United States.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="strong-leading-their-own-horizons-strong">Leading Their Own Horizons</h2>
The latest report by CoinGecko, a crypto data aggregator, reveals Riot Platforms stands at number three in context to the holdings. Marathon Digital holds just the double of what Riot Platforms have in their BTC chest. Hut 8 Mining, another crypto miner, has managed to capture second position with 9,366 BTC.
<div class="wp-block-image">
 <figure class="aligncenter"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/a5jA3IYiyRW8Hno-_qpiKRw10Fxmd4UDVaQ10AHGiVLLdHAspsiKhTbC5fyZ-W-fghZ3tEUYoc3v5YFCi-pQPw93AvEsoQOsKST7CyDrcBsMR6I4doz5dCq7Apqo6RrocE_OlcFNMt1I4-DpTwzX6os" alt="Irony of Riot Platforms: Largest Bitcoin Miner But Not the Holder">
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 Source: CoinGecko
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 </figure>
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The list mentions 14 crypto miners holding over 38K BTC with almost 80 percent belonging to the top three. However, the total is still way below MicroStrategy’s, a business intelligence company, possessions. Michael Saylor, a Bitcoin aficionado, serves as the CEO of the company.
CleanSpark, a Bitcoin miner, holds the most BTC among the companies with mild possessions. Eight of the crypto miners failed to reach 1K in their holdings. Organizations including Argo Blockchain and Core Scientific have less than 50 BTC in their portfolios.
For the top dogs in the list, their holdings are both a boon and a curse. Next halving, an event increasing mining difficulty and reducing rewards, is scheduled in April 2024. Experts believe the price may reach $130K following the event. However, available data shows it has little or no impact on the price of the flagship crypto asset. A sudden price decline could hurt them at large though.
In fact, crypto mining is not exactly the apple of people’s eye. Many deem it hazardous to the environment. Some cryptocurrencies use Proof-of-Work (PoW), an algorithm that consumes energy at an extreme. This has brought forth some backlash towards the activity.
The US state of Texas saw some activists calling out Riot Platforms for developing a BTC mine. The outcry found potential exploitation of natural resources in Navarro County. The <a href="https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/09/07/riot-platforms-sold-1136-btc-worth-of-electric-power-in-august/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">crypto </a>mine the company is developing will reportedly consume 1 GW of electricity annually alone. Currently, the crypto miner uses 450 MW of power, equal to the energy consumed by nearly 300K households.
Bitcoin has a record high of nearly $70K which it attained during November 2021. However, that was the only time people saw flagship virtual currency hanging from a branch that high. It was changing hands at $34,737 at the time of writing, nearly half of its all-time high.
Prices are among the major drivers for crypto miners. Consequently, it also affects the environment accordingly. Available data indicates a million miners are active globally, a vast majority of them are mining BTC. The biggest virtual currency has a finite supply of 21 Million, hitting miners with a big question, what is next?
Nevertheless, calculations highlight that the year 2140 will see all the BTCs entering the supply. This, in turn, will shift mining incentives from newly minted Bitcoin through their high-end computers to transaction fees.

Irony of Riot Platforms: Largest Bitcoin Miner But Not the Holder

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Thecoinrepublic.com

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