Bitcoin’s onchain activity has jumped even as the asset remains well below its previous peak. Glassnode data show that daily Bitcoin transactions recently moved above 820,000, while the price has held near $62,000, about 50% below the all-time high reached in October.
That divergence stands out. Transaction activity often cools when price weakens, yet Bitcoin network usage is now at its strongest level in roughly two years despite the broader market slump described in the source material.
Rune-related messages drive the latest spike
The latest increase appears tied to renewed interest in Runes, a fungible token standard built on Bitcoin. Similar to ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, Runes let users create and transfer fungible assets directly on the Bitcoin network.
Glassnode said transactions carrying Rune protocol messages, known as Runestones, have surged above 600,000 per day, also reaching a two-year high. The last comparable jump came on April 23, 2024, immediately after Bitcoin’s most recent halving and the debut of the Runes protocol, when fee pressure also rose sharply.
Fee composition on Bitcoin is shifting
The resurgence is also changing Bitcoin’s fee mix. Roughly 25% of all network transaction fees now come from Rune-related activity, a multi-year high. That points to growing demand for block space from applications beyond standard BTC transfers.
Bitcoin has long faced criticism that its onchain utility is limited and that usage is driven mostly by speculation. The current rise in transaction volume and fee generation does not settle that debate, but it does show the network attracting measurable activity during a prolonged market downturn.