TLDR
- Riot sold 3,778 BTC in Q1 2026 and raised about $289.5 million.
- Riot’s average sale price was $76,626 per Bitcoin, based on its quarterly update.
- Riot ended March 31 with 15,680 BTC, down from 19,223 BTC a year earlier.
- MARA sold 15,133 BTC for about $1.1 billion during the same quarter.
- Strategy bought 44,377 BTC in March, or 94% of public company purchases that month.
Riot Platforms followed MARA to the exit in the first quarter of 2026. The Nasdaq-listed miner sold 3,778 BTC and raised about $289.5 million. The move added to a wider round of sales by public Bitcoin miners. It also placed Riot among the quarter’s notable corporate sellers.
Riot said the coins were sold at an average price of $76,626 each. Its Bitcoin holdings stood at 15,680 BTC on March 31. The update came as demand data stayed weak, yet some buyers kept adding coins. That split left the market more dependent on a few large buyers.
Riot reports lower holdings after quarter sales
Riot produced 1,473 BTC during the quarter, and that was 4% below the same period in 2025. Even so, production still added fresh supply before the company sold part of its reserve. The gap between output and sales widened the drawdown in reserves. That left Riot with fewer coins than it held a year earlier.
At the end of March, Riot held 15,680 BTC. That was down from 19,223 BTC one year earlier. Arkham data also showed another 500 BTC sale in early April. That transaction came after the quarter had already closed.
Riot included the figures in its production and operations update for the quarter. The report listed sales, production, and end-of-period holdings in one set of results. Those figures showed both lower output and lower holdings at quarter end. They also showed that Riot used reserve sales alongside mined Bitcoin.
Riot’s average sale price was $76,626 per coin. Based on that figure, the company raised about $289.5 million in net proceeds. The sale value reflected both the coin count and the quarter’s market level. It also gave Riot added cash while holdings moved lower.
MARA and other firms also reduce reserves
Riot was not alone in reducing Bitcoin reserves during the quarter. MARA Holdings sold 15,133 BTC for about $1.1 billion in the same period. That made Riot part of a broader shift among listed miners and treasury firms. The reported sales added thousands of coins to market supply during the period.
Genius Group sold its full 84.15 BTC treasury on April 1. Nakamoto Holdings also cut about 284 BTC in March for roughly $20 million. The sales came from different firms, yet the direction was the same. Together, those moves lifted public company sales well above 15,000 BTC.
These sales arrived as on-chain demand data weakened in late March. Companies that had held reserves reported fresh treasury reductions. Riot’s move, after MARA’s larger sale, fit that pattern. The sequence placed several public sellers on the market at once.
Demand weakens while buying stays concentrated
CryptoQuant said Bitcoin’s “apparent demand” fell to negative 63,000 coins in late March. That reading pointed to weaker market absorption across the period. The figure came as miners were reporting new sales. Yet buying did not stop across the public company space.
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, bought 44,377 BTC in March alone. The company accounted for 94% of public company Bitcoin purchases that month. Its March buying dwarfed the coins sold by several miners. So, while some miners sold, one buyer remained far more active than others.
Metaplanet also bought 5,075 BTC for about $398 million during the first quarter. Its total holdings rose to 40,177 BTC after that purchase. The contrast showed a market where selling widened, but buying stayed concentrated. The quarter ended with buying led by a small number of public companies.
Get 3 Free Stock Ebooks
Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis.
- Top 10 AI Stocks - Leading AI companies
- Top 10 Crypto Stocks - Blockchain leaders
- Top 10 Tech Stocks - Tech giants
