Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Stock Falls As $1M Bitcoin Purchase Pushes Treasury Past $1B: Retail Has Concerns

Shares of Hut 8 Mining Corp. dipped as much as 4% in early Thursday trading following the disclosure of its first-ever Bitcoin purchase. 

While the $1 million acquisition pushed the miner’s total Bitcoin reserves past $1 billion, retail sentiment around the stock became more bearish.

Hut 8 acquired approximately 990 Bitcoin at an average price of $101,710 each. This brings its total Bitcoin holdings to 10,096 BTC, ranking it among the 10 largest corporate holders of the cryptocurrency, according to BitcoinTreasuries data. 

Until now, Hut 8’s reserves were exclusively comprised of Bitcoin mined in-house, making this purchase a strategic shift.

“The purchased Bitcoin will play a central role in an innovative financing model for the Company’s previously announced fleet upgrade,” the company said in a statement. 

The announcement comes amid broader market turbulence following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s statement that the central bank is not permitted to hold Bitcoin. 

Hut 8 shares dropped 11.8% on Wednesday as Bitcoin-linked stocks faced headwinds. 

Hut 8 Mining Corp. Sentiment and Message Volume on Dec 19 as of 10:55 a.m. ET | Source: Stocktwits

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the stock dipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ a day ago, while message volumes remained at ‘normal’ levels. 

Investors exhibited frustration with the stock’s volatility.

The miner is planning to use the reserve through options strategies, pledges, sales, or other strategies, according to the statement.

CEO Asher Genoot told CoinDesk that the company is open to buying more Bitcoin in the open market when the time is right. 

“As long as this market dynamic persists, we will remain opportunistic in expanding our Bitcoin reserve,” he said.

The stock was also weighed down by the slide in Bitcoin prices by over 2.6% in the last 24 hours, trading at $101,574 as of 11:00 a.m. ET on Thursday.

Despite the two-day losing streak, the stock remains up 68% year-to-date

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Read also: Crypto Miners Claw Back Losses Pre-Market As Powell’s Fed Stance On Bitcoin Fuels Debate