In this cycle, which some institutions view as the "second half of the bear market," the publicly listed mining company Core Scientific, which held over 9,600 BTC at the peak in 2022, chose to rewrite its story with a series of extremely resolute numbers: in the latest disclosed third quarter, the company sold off 816 BTC at once, accounting for approximately 96% of its holdings for the season, leaving only 32 BTC on the balance sheet, which is almost equivalent to a liquidation pronouncement of its past "holding coins for mining" model. The management team also provided a "death date" for its mining business—planning to end Bitcoin mining by December 31, 2026—while the reality of cash flow has already turned around: of approximately $233 million in revenue for the quarter, about $215 million came from custody services, significantly diluting the proportion of revenue from mining. On a macro level, Bloomberg Industry Research's senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone is reminding the market that the 50-week moving average for Bitcoin is still declining; he defines it as a bear market and warns that gold and other risk assets also face further downward risks; in this narrative context, Core Scientific's near-complete liquidation of its Bitcoin holdings and bet on custody services seems more like a real-world footnote to the conclusion that "Bitcoin is merely a leading indicator of risk assets."
From 9,600 to 32: The Path of Mining Company's Liquidation
From holding over 9,600 BTC at the peak in 2022 to having only 32 BTC left by the end of the third quarter of 2024, Core Scientific's balance sheet has essentially been gradually hollowed out from "coin-based" to "cash-based." The official disclosure did not reveal a complete quarterly reduction schedule, and what the outside world can see are just a series of key nodes that have been clipped out: in the latest disclosure, the company sold 816 BTC in the third quarter alone, accounting for about 96% of its holdings for the season, almost wiping out all the active chips at once, leaving only 32 BTC, whose symbolic significance far exceeds its financial significance. If these figures are accurate, this company has completed a dramatic turnaround from a "coin-hoarding mining company" to "almost zero holdings" in less than two years; the decisiveness of the liquidation action suggests that it is less about passive consumption and more about a conscious withdrawal.
This withdrawal rhythm reflects a complete turnaround in risk appetite. Once willing to hoard Bitcoin at over 9,600 coins at high prices, the management showed a willingness to use asset price volatility to boost performance; now, selling off 96% of the current holdings in the third quarter reflects the same decisiveness in hedging future uncertainties. Given that the same disclosure shows Core Scientific's revenue has become highly reliant on custody services, while the mining business has already been set to exit by December 31, 2026, selling coins appears more like making room for cash and mental space for this new mainline—whether the motivation is to relieve financial pressure or to lock in profits early, reducing holdings from 9,600 to 32 BTC essentially operates under the unchanged bear market narrative and a negative volatility expectation, actively pulling itself away from the Bitcoin price gaming table.
Mining Revenue Exits, Custody Becomes Cash Cow
When Core Scientific reduced its holdings from 9,600 BTC to 32 BTC and set December 31, 2026, as the end date for its mining business, the revenue structure in its financial report had already indicated its stance: approximately $233 million in total revenue for the third quarter included about $215 million from custody services, nearing or even exceeding 90%. Bitcoin mining-related revenue has been pushed to the margins, appearing more like a historical remnant than the company's core business, meaning that even if it is still "mining," cash flow has long been primarily supported by custody. For a mining company that once bet on self-mining and appreciating holdings, this ratio represents a fundamental shift—from waiting for asset appreciation to using machines and electricity to collect rent.
The change in model is also reshaping its risk exposure: from buying machines, incurring electricity costs, and enduring Bitcoin price fluctuations, to selling machine space, operational maintenance, and power to customers, shifting from a need to hedge price cycles to a reliance on custody demand and client stability. Custody revenue has already become the core source of the company's cash flow, but the company has not disclosed a clear plan for new businesses outside of custody, turning Core Scientific in reality into a highly singular "cash cow"—mining revenue gradually exiting the balance sheet while custody services serve as both the current profit engine and the singular focus for its ability to endure through cycles.
Core Scientific Announces Mining Closure in Advance
The management team has set a date: the Bitcoin mining business is planned to be shut down on December 31, 2026. For a mining company that held over 9,600 BTC in 2022, this is not a vague guide based on circumstances, but rather a predetermined exit path—mining is no longer a business that can be endlessly rolled over, but a project with a defined endpoint. From this moment on, the capital market will price Core Scientific's mining segment as an "expiring asset": future cash flows will only be counted until the end of 2026, the story's upper limit has been written, and the valuation focus will naturally shift toward the longer-lasting cash flow curve of custody.
For the company internally, a predetermined closing date also rewrites the math for assets and investments. Depreciation of mining machines and facilities will no longer be an accounting choice to "extend as much as possible" but will need to be arranged around the countdown to 2026; any new investment in mining must be recouped within this timeline, or there is no reason for existence. The result is that the mining segment has passively shrunk into a "depleting resource" at the strategic level, while the custody business becomes the only asset allowed to stretch for duration. Such arrangements are hard not to be interpreted as a signal of a more conservative approach toward the long-term price of Bitcoin: management no longer supports self-mining with an indefinite bullish stance but shifts the company's bets toward the revenue form of custody fees, which depends less on coin price, opting for the latter between open-ended bullish market imagination and capped business planning.
Mike McGlone: Bitcoin as a Risk Barometer
When Core Scientific locks the duration of its mining business until December 31, 2026, and almost completely empties its Bitcoin holdings, a voice is echoing from the macro level. Senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone at Bloomberg Industry Research is fixated on a cold, hard technical curve—the 50-week moving average of Bitcoin. In his view, this moving average has clearly turned downward, with prices firmly trapped below it, placing Bitcoin in a standard bear market. More critically, this in his narrative is not an isolated fluctuation of a single asset, but rather a "risk radar": as Bitcoin weakens ahead of time, gold and other risk assets may also face further downward pressure, with Bitcoin being directly viewed as a leading indicator of risk assets.
Looking at Core Scientific's actions within this coordinate system, it is no longer merely a story of "de-leveraging" at the company level. In the latest quarter, the company sold 816 BTC, approximately 96% of its holdings for the season, compressing the Bitcoin on its books down to 32 BTC, while ensuring that about $233 million of total revenue comes from custody services, steering future profit lines as much as possible from "betting on coin prices" to "collecting custody fees." If McGlone's conclusion is that Bitcoin, this risk barometer, is flickering yellow beneath the 50-week moving average, then Core Scientific's response is to actively position itself further back, moving itself from the end of "being led by risk" to that of only taking on the foundational infrastructure for others, together forming a tacitly pessimistic consensus between mining companies and macro strategists under the context of a bear market.
Viewing the Second Half of the Bear Market through Core Scientific
From holding over 9,600 BTC at the peak in 2022 to selling 816 BTC in the latest quarter, liquidating approximately 96% of its position, and finally retaining only 32 BTC on its balance sheet, while setting a "deadline" for Bitcoin mining operations on December 31, 2026, Core Scientific has woven together a complete chain of self-rescue in the bear market through reduction, exit, and transformation into custody. In the third quarter, out of $233 million in total revenue, approximately $215 million came from custody services, indicating that it has almost actively abandoned its identity as a "miner" participating in price games, instead living off cash flow from the on-chain infrastructure in the posture of a "renter." This rearrangement of risk exposure and cash flow structure serves as an intuitive model for all mining companies and institutions that still hold significant BTC amounts: in the second half of the bear market, positions are no longer symbols of faith but liquidity cushions that can be sacrificed at any time. Placed under the macro framework where Mike McGlone sees Bitcoin as a leading indicator of risk assets and asserts its 50-week moving average still points to the bear market, this series of actions by Core Scientific seems more like a contingency plan for "the downturn is not over"—no longer betting on the coin price itself, but on the idea that others will still require computing power and custody, thus using business structure instead of sentiment to hedge against risks in a possibly still amplifying cycle of volatility. Given that public information primarily comes from a single source with limited details, this company at least offers a thought: when the price curve signals increasingly resemble a protracted war, whoever can adjust their balance sheets and income engines ahead of time like it will be more qualified to remain at the table after the second half of the bear market.
Join our community, let's discuss and become stronger together!
AiCoin exclusive Hyperliquid benefits: https://app.hyperliquid.xyz/join/AICOIN88
AiCoin exclusive Aster benefits: https://www.asterdex.com/zh-CN/referral/9C50e2
On-chain Telegram community: https://t.me/AiCoinWhaleData
On-chain community: https://www.aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=N6OVMor5g
AiCoin on-chain Twitter: https://x.com/aicoinwhaledata
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到[email protected]，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
