Bitcoin has traded below miners' all-in cost for five straight months, with ~20% of the sector now unprofitable and publicly traded miners dumping 32,000+ BTC in Q1 alone to fund operations. The forced selling creates a structural overhang on BTC price while squeezing miner equity — MARA and RIOT are posting deep negative net margins (-144% and -102% respectively) even as revenues grow.
If BTC price rebounds and hashrate capitulation removes the least efficient miners, surviving operators like CLSK — which already runs positive net margins — would see costs drop further while revenue surges, potentially driving a sharp re-rating in miner equities.
MARA and RIOT's triple-digit negative net margins, combined with record BTC selling just to meet operating costs, suggest balance-sheet erosion that revenue growth cannot offset at current BTC prices — making these equities vulnerable to further drawdowns even if BTC stabilizes.