The last publicly listed bitcoin miner to pursue a 100% “hodl” strategy since the bull market, Hut 8 Mining (HUT), said last week that it finally gave in and sold 188 bitcoins in February to fund operations.

Miners in general have found it difficult to raise funds for operations, including in the form of capital in public markets, amid a slide in the broader financial market and narrowing margins. Some of the miners that opted to hold onto their mined bitcoins through the last bull market and into this bear cycle are now starting to sell the coins, mostly to pay for their daily operating expenses.

Hut 8 hadn’t sold any bitcoin since January 2021, leaving it with 9,242 BTC at the end of February, after the sale. Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), for its part, sold bitcoin for the first time in January, after it indicated that it would. Marathon still held 11,392 bitcoin in reserve as of the end of February.

Hut 8 CEO Jaime Leverton had previously said the company would sell bitcoin so that it could complete a merger with U.S. Bitcoin Corp.