Markets
Average Bitcoin transaction sizes are increasing, reflecting market maturation and retail growth
Onchain Highlights
DEFINITION: Distribution of relative on-chain volume adjusted by entity based on USD value of transfers.
The relative volume of Bitcoin transfers, adjusted by entity and categorized by transfer size, shows nuanced trends across different transaction ranges. As of January 2024, transfers below $1,000 constituted a minor share of overall activity. Notably, transactions between $1,000 and $10,000 saw a slight increase, reflecting growing participation by individuals.
Distribution of transfer volume by size: (Source: Glassnode)
Larger transfers, between $10,000 and $100,000 and $100,000 and $1 million, have seen an increase, remaining around 20-30% of the total volume. This suggests an increase in institutional activity. At the same time, the $1-10 million bracket has also seen growth, while transfers above $10 million have declined.
Between mid-January and April, volumes above $10 million saw a resurgence before declining, bottoming out in May.
The levels of the largest transfers increased again at the end of May and have since stabilized. The other tranches have evolved relatively, with the exception of transfers below $100,000, which have remained stable.
Compared to historical data since 2017, the past year has seen a reduction in the dominance of smaller transactions, replaced by medium-sized volumes, particularly those above $100,000. This shift highlights a maturation of Bitcoin’s user base, with an increasing reliance on large transactions, in line with post-halving market conditions and a maturing institutional footprint.