Bitcoin Network Activity Drop Due to Growing Share of Large Transactions
Date: 2025-06-23 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
During 2023 and 2024, the daily number of transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain grew steadily, reaching a maximum of 734,000 transactions in November last year. However, at the beginning of 2025, this figure dropped sharply and now fluctuates between 320,000 and 500,000 transactions, which is close to the minimum values recorded in October 2023.
According to Glassnode, although the total number of transactions remained at about the same level, the average cost of one transaction in dollar terms increased to $ 36,200. At the same time, the share of large transactions - with an amount over $ 100,000 - increased from 66% in November 2022 to 80% at the moment.
Experts attribute these changes to the fact that significant activity in the network is now provided by large Bitcoin holders, who increasingly dominate on-chain transactions. At the same time, most economic activity has moved outside the blockchain — to off-chain markets.
The Bitcoin spot trading market is mainly served by large centralized exchanges. Over the past year, the average daily trading volume on these platforms was about $10 billion, and in November, a peak of $23 billion was recorded. However, most of these transactions do not require the actual movement of assets within the blockchain, which reduces the load on the network.
As a result, the amount of commission payments to miners has also decreased: their share of income from network fees has fallen below 1%. This puts additional pressure on the mining economy.
In parallel, Santiment experts noted an intensification of the struggle between bullish and bearish sentiment in the Bitcoin market, but the overall attitude of investors has not yet undergone significant changes.
Thus, the key factor in the decline in activity in the Bitcoin network is the concentration of transaction activity among large players and the transfer of a significant portion of trading to the off-chain environment.
