Riot Platforms sold 10,599 Bitcoin during the third quarter of 2026, shrinking its corporate treasury from 11,380 BTC at the end of June to just 2,418 BTC by September 30. The quarter's disposals wiped out close to 79% of the miner's holdings and mark a sharp break from the accumulation strategy that gave Riot one of the largest Bitcoin stacks of any publicly listed mining company.

Riot, the second-largest publicly listed Bitcoin miner, has now sold 20,264 BTC this year for approximately $1.48 billion. Rather than rebuilding its coin reserve, the company is directing most of the proceeds toward its AI data center buildout. In effect, mining output is being converted into project financing rather than treasury growth — the reverse of the accumulation approach Riot followed over the previous six years.

Riot Books $181M in Q3 Revenue as Mining Income Falls 28%

Riot reported third-quarter revenue of $181 million, up 1% from the same period last year. Net income dropped to $4.03 million, down from $104 million a year earlier.

Bitcoin mining was the weak spot. Mining revenue fell to $116 million, down about 28% year over year, as the April 2024 halving — which cut block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC — left miners working with thinner margins.

The gap between production and sales underlines the strategic shift: Riot mined 4,697 BTC in the first nine months of 2026, yet sold 20,264 BTC over the same period, more than four times as much.

AI Data Center Push Backed by $38B in Long-Term Contracts

The company's pivot centers on its site in Corsicana, Texas. Riot signed a 15-year lease with an unnamed leading AI lab covering 910 MW of critical IT capacity, a deal with an initial contract value of about $28 billion. Two optional five-year extensions could raise the total to roughly $54 billion.

AMD also took up an option for 25 MW of additional capacity, with full delivery due in May 2027. In total, Riot now has 1,151 MW of data center capacity under contract, worth about $38 billion in long-term contract revenue. Unlike mining revenue, which fluctuates with Bitcoin's price and the halving cycle, that backlog is income already committed under long-term agreements.

Riot's Q3 earnings presentation lists Bitcoin sales as the main way it is funding the buildout. The company also used sale proceeds to pay off its $200 million Coinbase credit facility in full on September 21, releasing all of the BTC it had pledged as collateral.

Riot ended the quarter with $950 million in total liquidity: $748 million in cash and $202 million in Bitcoin.

Years of Accumulation Unwound in Three Months

The third-quarter sell-off accelerated an already active year. Riot had sold 9,665 BTC in the first half of 2026 before the larger liquidation that followed.

The drawdown contrasts with the miner's long buildup. Riot held 514 BTC at the end of 2019 and had grown that to 4,884 BTC by the end of 2021. Its biggest jump came in 2024, when holdings rose from 7,362 BTC to 17,429 BTC, and by the end of 2025 the company held 18,005 BTC. According to its filings, those additions came from its own mining rather than open-market purchases.

That reserve is now mostly gone. On its Q3 earnings call, Riot said it expects to keep selling substantially all the Bitcoin it mines. The remaining 2,418 BTC, the company's future production, and the May 2027 AMD delivery deadline are the near-term markers for how the pivot progresses.

Riot is not the only miner selling. MARA Holdings sold 15,133 BTC for about $1.1 billion in March and used the cash to buy back roughly $1 billion in convertible notes. Even Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, sold 32 BTC in late May to help pay dividends on its preferred stock, though it has kept buying since then and now holds 849,327 BTC. Across these companies, treasury sales are covering cash obligations — debt buybacks, dividend payments, and infrastructure spending — rather than adding to coin reserves.

BTC Price: Rebound Tests Resistance Near $82K

On the 1-hour Binance chart, BTC has bounced about 4% from a low of $75,736 on November 4 and now trades near $80,654. Buying volume rose clearly during the rebound, making the move more convincing than a recovery on falling volume would be.

The setup dates back to October 29, when Bitcoin fell from the $81,000–$82,000 range toward $76,000. Price then moved sideways between $76,500 and $78,500, and one further drop found buyers near $75,736.

Immediate resistance is at $81,000 to $81,200, with a stronger ceiling at $82,000 to $82,100, close to the earlier high of $82,060. According to the analysis, a clean hourly close above $82,000 would put bulls back in control of the short-term trend.

Source: The Market Periodical — Riot Sells 10,599 Bitcoin in Q3 as BTC Holdings Plunge 79%