Bitcoin’s transaction activity has recently reached its lowest level in over a year and a half, with the seven-day moving average falling under 316,000 transactions, before slightly recovering to around 350,000, as per data from The Block.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

This marks a significant drop from the peak of over 700,000 daily transactions seen during the height of Bitcoin-based protocol adoption in mid-2024.

The decline is attributed to fading hype around Bitcoin-native protocols like Runes and Ordinals, which previously drove substantial transaction volume by enabling token-like functionality and NFT-style inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Transaction fees have also remained consistently low, below $1.50 since the start of the year, reflecting reduced competition for block space.