- The unprecedented success of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US is now making traditional financial institutions flock toward the digital asset.
- Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 said they have been contacted by several Wall Street banks to negotiate a deal with some of their BTC supply.
Wall Street Banks Negotiating with Bitcoin Mining Companies
A sign of a major supply shortage for Bitcoin is brewing, and this is now causing major banks to go on a buying spree. Some of them are even directly contacting Bitcoin mining firms to ensure they get a jump on the competition.
Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot revealed to DLNews that they have recently been called up by several Wall Street banks to buy BTC directly from them. However, the Bitcoin mining firm boss refused to name any of the purported buyers and only referred to them as “the largest banks you can think of.”
“We’ve had banks reach out to us to try to buy our Bitcoin because of the supply shortages on these different exchanges,” said Genoot without identifying the crypto exchanges he was pointing at.
The Hut 8 supremo is also super bullish on the upcoming halving of the Bitcoin ecosystem that’s set to cut down BTC rewards per block mined in the world’s leading blockchain from the present 6.25 BTC per block to 3.125 BTC. He believes the ensuing reduction of mining rewards will further tighten the supply of BTC in the months to come.
“The supply coming down by 50%, from 900 Bitcoin to 450 Bitcoin per day, also makes a big impact, because now you have increasing demand but less supply,” added the Bitcoin mining company’s head.“It’s a double whammy in terms of pushing Bitcoin’s price up.”
Hut 8’s Progress
Hut 8 is one of the leading Bitcoin mining companies in North America. As of March, it has grown its deployed miners under management to around 76,800 with a hashrate under management of 8.7 exahashes per second (EH/s) according to its latest press release.
The boost in the Bitcoin mining production of Hut 8 was a result of its ongoing restructuring efforts. This saw the company close its Drumheller rigs to relocate to Medicine Hat. It also resulted in the closure of other inefficient mining units to focus more on its new Salt Creek site.
Meanwhile, it presently holds 9,102 BTC on its balance sheet, which is worth around $646.24 million based on Bitcoin’s prevailing value of $71,000 as of this writing at 8:50 AM UTC on Monday.