80% of all Bitcoin transactions are now microtransactions

Activity on the Bitcoin network is reaching striking new highs. According to CryptoQuant data, nearly 80% of all Bitcoin transactions now consist of microtransactions involving amounts under 0.01 BTC. The spike is driven by Runes, Ordinals and data inscriptions, while the Bitcoin price currently stands at $62.600 with a decline of 2.9% in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin is available at OKX and Bybit.

Network activity at highest level since December 2024

CryptoQuant charts show that Bitcoin network activity has grown to its highest level since December 2024. The number of daily transactions and transactions per block is approaching record levels. This is a direct result of the explosive growth in Runes, Ordinals and other forms of data inscription on the blockchain.

Interestingly, this activity is taking place while the price performance of Bitcoin remains relatively weak. The network congestion is therefore independent of speculative trading and is entirely driven by on-chain usage. Meanwhile, large Bitcoin investors are reaching a new all-time high in holdings, indicating that interest in Bitcoin remains strong on multiple fronts.

Mempool becomes congested due to block space competition

The sudden increase in transaction volume is causing the Bitcoin mempool to become the most congested since early 2025. Competition for available block space is increasing significantly, with consequences for transaction speeds and costs. Users looking to send a transaction find that they have to pay higher fees to get priority.

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin price is under pressure, as also seen in recent analyses about the price under pressure. The combination of an overcrowded mempool and weak price action makes this a unique situation on the network. Nevertheless, the network data indicates that the use of Bitcoin as a protocol is growing strongly, regardless of what the market does in the short term.