Report: The Biggest Crypto Bears Are Selfish Chinese Miners
Many have been wondering which group represents the majority of crypto bears recently as prices keep plummeting. Those that got into crypto within the last year have probably fled the scene with tails between their legs and burnt fingers. That leaves long term hodlers, institutional investors, and Chinese crypto miners.
Chinese Miners Playing the Short Game
A report in a local media publication aligned with Bitmain suggests it could be this latter group that has been shorting Bitcoin in great numbers. "Enhver er kort-sælger, vi gør dette for selvforsvar, men det vil føre til en yderligere nedgang i cryptocurrency price … Without short selling, we will be eliminated ultimately, but if everyone keeps doing this, we will finally be together, which is quite heroic, "said a Chinese miner called Jin Xin.
In a bear market with a down trend that is getting steeper by the week it makes sense to hedge on shorting cryptocurrencies;
"If I have 30 coins in the next month, while its price may continue to fall by another 1[ads1]0% according to the current trend, I will place a short order on
Similar to futures, the miners can lock in a price for their coins instead of facing more uncertainty down the line when prices are likely to be even lower. Hedging has become an essential skill in surviving a bear market, while four years ago, when there were fewer Bitcoins and mining difficulties, much lower, Hodling would have sufficed.
Bitcoin mining has gone through several stages over the years, from a garage Activity for enthusiasts on gaming rigs, two mega factories, and now to a financial model. The principal now is that if the price drops, then miners make a profit, but that profit is negated by the now lower value of the coin they have. As pointed out by Trustnodes, if price increases, then they make a loss by short selling, but that loss is annulled by the higher value of the now movable coin they hold.
This is a rather selfish and destructive approach to the crypto ethos that may well end in bankruptcy for many Chinese miners. Smarter ones are likely to be hodling while the storm passes and waiting for a time that they can sell again at a higher price rather than trying to get instant profits by destroying the product.
This year, increasing hashrates have reached a point of unsustainability , a tipping point fits which it would not be more profitable to continue mining. Over the past month, difficulty and hashrate has dropped as miners start to pull their heavy duty mining rigs out, leaving a gap for the smaller outfits.
Some miners have started buying used GPUs again as a second strategy, the selfish are shorting , and those most likely to survive have gone into hibernation with their stash for the crypto winter in wait for warmer days ahead.
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