Bitcoin Miners Are Selling Coins in Worrying Sign of a Shakeout

Some Bitcoin miners are trading in their diamond hands to pay for their picks and shovels.

A metric tracking Bitcoin miners’ holdings turned negative on Feb. 5 for the first time since mid-November, according to crypto analytics platform Glassnode. The turn in the metric, or the net change of miner balances over a trailing 30-day window, shows that miners have sold their coins in a possible sign a shakeout of less-efficient operators is coming.

Miners were adding to their stockpiles for months, even as prices fell to $35,000, according to research firm Delphi Digital. But with Bitcoin still lingering 35% ...