A surge in microtransactions has become the primary driver of increased Bitcoin network activity. Transactions under 0.01 BTC now account for approximately 80% of daily transactions, according to CryptoQuant.
Source: CryptoQuant.In comparison, this figure was around 44% in 2023.
“The total number of transactions per day and per quarter has approached historical highs. However, the economic value of these operations is disproportionately low,” analysts noted.
The use of the OP_RETURN code has also reached record levels. Researchers linked this trend to the popularity of Bitcoin-based fungible tokens, Ordinals inscriptions, and data recording services.
The increase in microtransactions and OP_RETURN usage has caused the number of operations in the mempool of the first cryptocurrency to reach its highest level since late February 2025, hitting 128,000. This congestion is primarily concentrated in low-fee groups.
“Sustained growth in non-financial activity on the blockchain could intensify competition for block space and raise fees for economic transactions,” CryptoQuant added.
It’s worth noting that in April, Ethereum recorded a significant divergence between the market price of the asset and the network's fundamental metrics.