Imagine a bitcoin mine that doesn’t have a single bitcoin. Sounds absurd? And yet this is the reality of Bitdeer Technologies from February 20, 2025.
The company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker BTDR published a weekly production report, which clearly shows – zero BTC in corporate reserves. Literally zero. Over the last week of reporting, the company mined 189.8 BTC and sold exactly the same amount, while getting rid of the entire remaining buffer of 943.1 BTC. Is this the beginning of a more serious bear market?
How did Bitdeer completely sell out BTC?
As recently as the end of 2024, Bitdeer was sitting on around 2,000 BTC. At the end of January – 1,530 BTC. Week before zero report – 943.1 BTC. The trajectory was clear, but the final scale of the sell-off surprised the market.
The context is important: a few days before emptying the vault, Bitdeer announced the issuance of $325 million in convertible notes and a $43.5 million stock placement. Both instruments are intended to finance the expansion of data centers and an aggressive shift towards AI. The cash was needed and the company simply took it from wherever it was lying around.
Bitdeer in trouble? Going against the industry trend
Bitdeer’s decision stands out from the competition in a way that is hard to ignore. MARA Holdings holds close to 53,250 BTC. Riot Platforms approximately 18,000 BTC. Strategy, the largest corporate hodler in the world, managed to accumulate over 717,000 BTC. Even among companies that regularly sell mined coins, a complete emptying of the vault is unprecedented in the industry.
The economics of mining are no longer favorable
Sales don’t happen in a vacuum. Bitcoin network difficulty jumped 14.7% in the latest correction and hashprice fell below $30 per PH/s/day. Bitdeer’s gross margin in Q4 2024 was only 4.7%, compared to 7.4% a year earlier. The pressure is real. In addition, there is a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York over alleged misrepresentations about the SEAL04 chip timeline. The company has a lot more on its plate than just managing reserves.
What’s next?
