Analysis: Bitcoin network activity is nearing historic highs, with small transactions and inscription activity pushing daily transaction volume to exceed 800,000 transactions.

Golden Finance reports that on June 19, CryptoQuant data shows that Bitcoin network activity has risen to a level only about 7% below the 2024 September historical peak, and for the first time since mid-2024 it has broken through the long-term trend line. The main driver is a large number of small transactions rather than traditional economic payment activity.
In 2026, the number of Bitcoin daily transactions has exceeded 800,000, up by more than 100% from the 2025 low and approaching the high points of the 2023 to 2025 cycle. CryptoQuant believes this growth has structural characteristics rather than being driven by short-term fluctuations.
Among them, the share of small transactions below 0.01 BTC has risen to about 80%, far higher than about 44% in 2023. This change is closely related to the near-record-high usage of OP_RETURN. CryptoQuant notes that protocols such as Runes, Ordinals, BRC-20, and data timestamp services generate a large number of low-value transactions by writing data into blocks, with some transaction amounts as low as 546 satoshis.
As inscription activity increases, the number of transactions waiting in the Bitcoin mempool backlog has risen to about 128,000, the highest level since February 2025. Although it is still below the extreme congestion levels seen in September 2023 and November 2024, the report suggests that non-financial-use transactions are taking up an increasing share of Bitcoin network throughput. If this trend continues, it could raise transaction fees for economic transactions that require high time sensitivity.
Meanwhile, the rise in on-chain activity contrasts with the direction of capital flows. On June 1, Bitcoin and Ethereum spot funds combined saw net outflows of more than $528 million, but institutional investors still view ETF fund flows as the core driver of this cycle and maintain a baseline expectation that Bitcoin will reach $150,000 by the end of the year.
BTC-0.01%
ORDI16.37%
ETH-0.56%
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