Bitcoin Network Sees 53% Drop: Are Investors and Miners Abandoning Ship? - Coin Bulletin

Investor and miner transactions on the Bitcoin network have witnessed a dramatic decline in recent days.

Crypto analysis firm CryptoQuant stated that activity on the Bitcoin network has reached its lowest level in the past year, but the price may increase in the coming months.

CryptoQuant's Bitcoin Network Activity Index has experienced a 15% decrease since November 2024's record level and dropped to 3,760 as of last Friday. This figure indicates the lowest level seen since February 2024.

The index is known as a measure that includes various metrics related to Bitcoin usage such as active addresses, transaction count, block size, and transaction fees.

Sharp Decrease in Transaction Volume

One of the biggest indicators of the decreasing interest in the Bitcoin network was a significant decrease in the number of transactions. The daily total number of transactions dropped to 346,000 as of Friday, experiencing a 53% decrease from its peak of 734,000.

Low network activity also manifested itself in the mempool, where transactions awaiting confirmation are collected by Bitcoin miners. The mempool volume, which reached 287,000 levels in December, has dropped dramatically to only 3,000 levels as of Thursday, representing almost a 99% dramatic decrease. These levels were last seen in March 2022.

CryptoQuant expressed that the decrease may be due to the decrease in the usage of the Runes Protocol.

Decrease in Usage of Runes Protocol

CryptoQuant, which stated that the decline in Bitcoin network activity can largely be explained by the collapse in the usage of Runes Protocol, associated this situation with the number of OP RETURN codes used in Bitcoin transactions.

In the early days of the Runes Protocol, which was launched in April 2024, the daily number of OP RETURN codes reached up to 802,000. However, this figure has rapidly decreased over time and is currently at 10,000 levels.