Microtransactions have taken over the Bitcoin network: the share of transfers under 0.01 BTC has reached 80%.
The Bitcoin network is experiencing a fundamental shift in the structure of transaction activity. The share of microtransactions — transfers of less than 0.01 BTC — has soared to an unprecedented 80% of the total daily number of operations. For context, in 2023 this figure hovered around 44%, making the current jump truly dramatic.
Record Activity with Minimal Economic Value
The number of transactions, both daily and quarterly, has come close to historical highs. However, behind this figure lies a troubling imbalance: the economic value of the operations remains disproportionately low. In other words, the network is clogged with a huge number of small movements that carry no significant financial burden.
At the same time, the use of the OP_RETURN code has risen to record levels. Analysis shows that three factors have become the main drivers of this trend: the explosive popularity of fungible tokens based on Bitcoin, the mass creation of Ordinals inscriptions, and the active use of services for recording data on the blockchain.
Mempool is Congested, but Fees are Rising Unevenly
The avalanche of microtransactions and OP_RETURN operations has caused the mempool of the first cryptocurrency to swell to 128,000 unconfirmed transactions — the highest figure since the end of February 2025. Notably, the congestion is concentrated in groups with low fees, indicating the non-financial nature of most of these transfers.
Forecast and Analysis. The steady growth of non-financial activity on the Bitcoin blockchain is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it demonstrates the network's growing utility beyond simple value transfers. On the other, it intensifies competition for block space, which will inevitably raise fees for truly important economic transactions. In the long term, this could make Bitcoin as a payment system for large transfers less accessible, unless there is widespread adoption of second-layer solutions.
Let me remind you that a similar gap between the market price of an asset and the fundamental indicators of the network was previously recorded in Ethereum, confirming the systemic nature of this problem for modern blockchains.