Micro transactions of less than 0.01 BTC have surged on the Bitcoin network, now accounting for roughly 80 percent of daily transactions. Despite a period of weak price momentum, this spike in activity has pushed overall network usage close to historic highs.
Network activity enters positive territory
According to a Thursday report from blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, the Bitcoin “Network Activity Index” has moved into positive territory for the first time since 2024 began. Whereas in 2023, transactions beneath 0.01 BTC made up about 44 percent of daily activity, this share has nearly doubled over the intervening months.
CryptoQuant’s research director, Julio Moreno, attributed the rapid growth to Ordinals, Runes, and other data processing protocols. The report warned that persistent growth in non-financial transactions could increase competition for block space, pushing up fees for regular, economic transfers.
CryptoQuant research director Julio Moreno explained that the sustained rise in non-financial transactions may intensify block space competition and drive up fees for economic transfers.
Moreno also pointed out that, despite their overwhelming numbers, these micro transactions represent relatively low economic value on the network. CryptoQuant found that network activity is still 7 percent below its all-time high set in September 2024.
| Indicator | Level |
|---|---|
| Share of transactions below 0.01 BTC, 2023 | 44 percent |
| Current share of transactions below 0.01 BTC | Approximately 80 percent |
| Gap between current network activity and record high | 7 percent |
Data inscription protocols fuel network congestion
Although the current traffic does not yet match previous peaks during data inscription waves, transaction backlogs have distinctly increased. Earlier periods of congestion were triggered when users inscribed images, texts, or token data directly onto the blockchain.
In 2023, the emergence of Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens sparked competition for the same block space as ordinary transfers, leading to a surge in pending transactions. The rollout of the Runes protocol later in 2024 fueled another spike. CryptoQuant’s report highlighted that Runes, Ordinals, BRC-20 tokens, and timestamping services have caused a burst in low-value but high-volume micro transactions.
Mini glossary: OP_RETURN is a Bitcoin command that allows data to be added to a transaction without creating spendable outputs. It is widely used in data-layer protocols like Ordinals to write texts, images, or different data types onto the blockchain.
The report also noted that OP_RETURN usage—allowing data to be embedded on-chain without generating spendable outputs—has approached record levels again in 2026. This mechanism became a hot topic after Bitcoin Core developers lifted the longstanding 80-byte transmission limit in 2025, making it easier for users to store non-financial data on the network. Critics argued the change encouraged such uses.
Moreno noted that OP_RETURN enables embedding up to 100,000 bytes of data directly onto the chain without creating spendable outputs, cementing its status as a standard method for Bitcoin’s data-layer protocols.
Pending transactions reach one-year peak
This trend on the network has also led to an increased backlog in the mempool, where unconfirmed transactions are queued. CryptoQuant reported that the mempool count reached around 128,000 transactions, the highest since February 2025.
CryptoQuant underscored that, even in a period of muted price action, transaction activity has been revived mostly by small-value or non-financial uses. This shift in how the network is being utilized places growing emphasis on tracking fee pressure and block space usage going forward.
