As the Bitcoin holding craze cools off, multiple companies and governments are carrying out large-scale sell-offs of their BTC reserves

Gate News Message: The Bitcoin holding frenzy is beginning to cool off, and multiple companies and governments have started selling off their reserves, increasing short-term volatility in the crypto market. Investors who entered on a large scale over the past two years are now exiting one after another, putting pressure on market sentiment.

Taking Empery Digital (EMPD) as an example: on Wednesday, the company sold 370 Bitcoins at an average price of $66,632, cashing out about $24.70 million, which it used to repay term loans and release about 1,800 Bitcoins that had previously been pledged. The company currently holds 2,989 Bitcoins remaining. Since Empery established its Bitcoin reserves in July 2025, it once held roughly 4,000 Bitcoins; its share price has fallen 75% from its all-time high.

The AI-driven Bitcoin education company Genius Group (GNS) has also cleared out all of its Bitcoin reserves. It recently sold its remaining 84 Bitcoins to repay debts of $8.5 million, and said it will replenish its reserves again when market conditions improve.

Major miner Riot Platforms (RIOT) is also continuing to cut back. On Wednesday, it sold 500 Bitcoins worth about $34.13 million to support its transition to AI and high-performance computing businesses. In the last two months of 2025, Riot had sold about $200 million worth of Bitcoin. Its current holdings are about 17,500 Bitcoins, and its Bitcoin reserves still rank among the top in the industry.

Meanwhile, the government of Bhutan continues to reduce its Bitcoin holdings, having sold a total of 3,103 Bitcoins. Just one transaction on March 30 liquidated 375 Bitcoins, further lowering its holdings. Previously, through state-supported mining projects, the country reached a peak in October 2024, holding more than 13,000 Bitcoins.

Despite market concerns sparked by recent sell-offs, publicly listed Bitcoin custody companies still hold about 1,164,800 Bitcoins, accounting for more than 5% of total supply. As of the time of publication, the Bitcoin trading price is about $66,500, down more than 2% from 00:00 UTC, indicating that short-term market sentiment still faces pressure. (CoinDesk)