Bitcoin Network Activity Surges as Bitcoin Price Drops Nearly 50% From Peak: CryptoQuant

Number of transactions on Bitcoin The network is surging despite the top crypto asset trading nearly 50% off its all-time high price of $126,080.

Data compiled by cryptocurrency analytics firm CryptoQuant indicates that network activity has been rising steadily since January 2026, recently reaching its highest level since late 2024, and is now just 7% below the all-time high activity levels recorded in September 2024.

“This above-trend reading has persisted for several weeks and represents the first positive activity system since mid-2024, which contrasts sharply with Bitcoin’s ongoing bear market.” “Price drops,” the company wrote.

The total and average number of daily transactions have reached near-record levels according to the company, which noted that activity had previously been contracting since December 2024.

However, despite the high activity, the economic value of these transactions is remarkably small.

“The economic content of these transactions differs materially from previous periods of high activity,” the report states.

Transaction pools of less than 0.01 BTC and less than 0.001 BTC saw a significant rise, collectively accounting for about 80% of daily transactions — up from 44% in 2023, according to Cryptoquant data. The company sees this as a sign of “protocol-based activity,” which maintains high volumes, but low value per transaction.

Further evidence of this drive at the protocol level is the associated increase in the use of “OP_RETURN,” a Bitcoin transaction output field that allows users to attach information to their BTC transactions.

Although the field previously had a byte limit, it is… It was removed last year after a controversial debate.

“Usage rises to near-record levels in 2026,” the analytics firm wrote, highlighting Bitcoin. She denied Activity and timestamp services are among other uses of OP_RETURN. “These protocols generate large amounts of dusty value transactions, which directly explains the increase in low value pool.”

Although the number of network transactions is on the rise, the price of Bitcoin is not. Bitcoin is down 17% in the last 30 days of trading, most recently trading at $63,865.