Glassnode data analyzed by CryptoSlate shows that Marathon, Hut8, and Riot built the top three largest Bitcoin (BTC) pools, while Bit Digital recorded a 134% growth in reserves in nine months.

BTC miners entered the year 2022 with resources acquired through cheap debt in 2021. The majority of them invested these resources into growing their ASICS, which kept increasing their BTC holdings until May.

However, the bear market started in May introduced immense pressure and led to distribution across miners. The Russian-Ukraine war increased energy costs, the BTC price fell, and the hash rate increased, which heated the competition for block space.

Distribution emerged as the main theme for BTC miners in the second half of 2022. However, the BTC volume in exchanges didn’t grow. Throughout the whole year, less than 60,000 BTC got sent to exchanges.