Attempting to identify reasons to be bullish on bitcoin in the current environment feels a lot like grasping for straws. True, the largest cryptocurreny is behaving like a falling knife.

There are multiple conflicting factors for crypto investors to weigh over the near-term, including the aforementioned discouraging price action. Add to that, one bitcoin miner recently announced it liquidated all of its holdings of the digital currency.

Speaking of miners, those companies and ETFs such as the CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI) shouldn’t be ignored over the near-term. Indeed, they offer investors valuable insight as to what’s in store for the cryptocurrency.

WGMI Holdings Are Moving Bitcoin Off Exchanges

February has been a brutal stretch for bitcoin. However, since the start of the month, crypto miners, including WGMI member firms, have moved more than 36,000 bitcoin off exchanges.

“The data indicates a noticeable escalation in the pace of Bitcoin withdrawals by miners from trading platforms, suggesting a potential shift in holding strategies or liquidity management. Since the beginning of February, approximately 36,000 Bitcoin have been withdrawn within a short period — a significant figure that reflects a change in miners’ behavior compared to previous months,” reported CryptoQuant.

When miners pull bitcoin off exchanges, it’s usually because they’re moving those holdings to cold storage. That pattern often indicates bullish behavior.

“This behavior is typically interpreted as a move toward long-term storage, as miners prefer transferring their assets to cold wallets instead of keeping them on exchanges. It may also reflect growing confidence in future price appreciation, as miners tend to reduce the supply available for sale in the spot market,” added CryptoQuant.

The validity of that perspective this time around remains to be seen. However, some WGMI holdings may be signaling to investors that they’re expecting the digital asset to rebound. Another clue provided by some WGMI components is the intensity with which they’ve recently shifted it off exchanges.

“Most notably, daily withdrawal activity surged sharply, peaking at over 6,000 Bitcoin withdrawn in a single day — the highest level recorded since last November. Comparisons show that this activity clearly exceeds January’s levels, reinforcing the assumption that the market may be entering a repositioning phase driven by miners,” concluded CryptoQuant.

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