Simply put
- Activity on the Bitcoin network is increasing and has reached levels not witnessed since 2024.
- Despite rising transaction numbers, the overall value of these transactions remains quite low.
- Transactions under 0.01 BTC and 0.001 BTC now comprise about 80% of total network activity.
The volume of transactions on the Bitcoin network continues to grow, even as the leading cryptocurrency trades nearly 50% below its peak of $126,080.
Since January 2026, network activity has been on a steady rise, hitting its highest mark since late 2024. Currently, it’s just 7% shy of the all-time activity record observed in September 2024, based on findings from cryptocurrency analysis firm CryptoQuant.
According to the firm, this ongoing trend has persisted for several weeks and marks the first significant uptick in activity since mid-2024, which stands in stark contrast to Bitcoin’s continued downward price trend.
CryptoQuant also noted that both the overall and daily averages for transactions have nearly reached record levels, although trading volumes have been declining since December 2024.
Even with increased network activity, the economic value of these transactions is substantially smaller than in previous high activity periods. “The economics of these transactions differ significantly from previous periods of high activity,” stated the report.
Data from CryptoQuant shows significant growth in the under-0.01 BTC and under-0.001 BTC transaction groups, which together account for roughly 80% of daily trades, a rise from 44% in 2023. The firm interprets this as indicative of “protocol-driven activity” that ensures a high transaction count while keeping individual values low.
Further, there’s a noticeable uptick in the use of “OP_RETURN,” a Bitcoin output field that lets users attach information to BTC transactions. This field had a byte limit that was removed last year after some contentious discussions.
“Usage surged to near-record levels in 2026,” said the analytics firm, emphasizing Bitcoin NFT activities and timestamp services. “These protocols generate large amounts of dust-value transactions, directly explaining the proliferation of low-value cohorts.”
While transaction numbers are on the rise, Bitcoin’s price isn’t following suit. Over the past 30 trading days, BTC has dropped by 17% and is currently trading around $63,865.
