According to BlockBeats on June 19, data from CryptoQuant shows that Bitcoin network activity has climbed to a level only about 7% below the historical peak recorded in September 2024. The metric has also broken above its long-term trend line for the first time since mid-2024. CryptoQuant attributed the latest rise mainly to a large number of small-value transactions, rather than traditional economic payment activity.
Daily Bitcoin transactions move back near cycle highs
Bitcoin’s daily transaction count in 2026 has exceeded 800,000, more than doubling from its 2025 low and approaching the highs seen during the 2023 to 2025 cycle. CryptoQuant said the increase now has a structural character, rather than reflecting a short-term fluctuation. The change indicates that Bitcoin block space is being used more heavily by high-frequency, low-value on-chain activity.
The composition of transactions has also shifted. Transactions below 0.01 BTC now account for about 80% of total activity, far above the roughly 44% share recorded in 2023. CryptoQuant linked this change closely to OP_RETURN usage, which is near an all-time high. Protocols and services such as Runes, Ordinals, BRC-20 and data timestamping create large numbers of low-value transactions by writing data into Bitcoin blocks. Some of these transfers involve amounts as small as 546 satoshis.
Inscription activity lifts mempool backlog
As inscription-related activity has increased, the number of pending transactions in Bitcoin’s mempool has risen to about 128,000, the highest level since February 2025. This is still below the extreme congestion levels seen in September 2023 and November 2024. Even so, CryptoQuant’s report said non-financial transactions are taking up a growing share of Bitcoin network throughput. If this trend continues, fees for time-sensitive economic transactions would face upward pressure.
The rise in on-chain activity contrasts with recent fund flow data. On June 1, Bitcoin and Ethereum spot funds recorded combined net outflows of more than $528 million. However, institutional investors still view ETF fund flows as a core driver of the current cycle and maintain a baseline expectation that Bitcoin will reach $150,000 by the end of the year.