Although Bitcoin's price is approaching its historical peak, network transaction activity has sharply decreased, reaching a dip since October 2023.
Bitcoin network transaction activity hits a dip since 2023. Photo: Bitcoinist.com
Despite Bitcoin trading near the historical peak of 111,980 USD, network transaction activity has fallen into a rare "hibernation" state.
BTC price fluctuation on monthly chart, screenshot from CoinGecko at 09:35 AM on 09/06/2025
According to data from The Block and YChart, the 7-day average transaction volume has dropped to around 317,000 on 06/06, the lowest since October 2023, when the number once hit a dip at 269,000. On 01/06 alone, only 256,000 transactions were recorded, a surprising figure in a vibrant market context.
Bitcoin network transaction volume statistics. Source: The Block
This not only raises questions about the real "health" of the Bitcoin network but also sparks a heated debate about the nature of decentralization, censorship resistance, and the role of low-fee or non-standard transactions.
The Game of "Opportunity Hunters"
As transaction activity declines, the competitive pressure in the mempool (transaction waiting memory) also decreases. This creates an opportunity for some extremely low-fee transactions - which are usually overlooked - to be included in a block and successfully verified.
A notable example is Mononaut's transaction, the founder of Mempool.space, with a fee of only 0.1 sat/vByte - significantly lower than Bitcoin Core software's default relay floor of 1 sat/vByte. This transaction was sent through Slipstream - a system by MARA (formerly Marathon Digital) that allows non-standard and extremely low-fee transactions. Mononaut's transaction remained in the mempool for a month before being mined, with a fee of only 11 satoshis (~0.01 USD).
a few days ago Mara finally mined this 0.1 sat/vB transaction that I started broadcasting via the public p2p relay network a month ago.
— mononaut (@mononautical) June 8, 2025
it only cost 11 sats!https://t.co/mVPxJRFjwv
Mononaut sarcastically wrote on X:
"This was a bespoke handcrafted artisanal transaction, lovingly carved from the finest hexadecimal characters."
this was a bespoke handcrafted artisanal transaction, lovingly carved from the finest hexadecimal characters
— mononaut (@mononautical) June 8, 2025
Censorship Resistance is Inviolable
In response to criticism of processing unusual transactions, 31 Bitcoin Core developers published an open letter on 06/06, opposing the trend of removing or filtering out non-standard transactions.
They conveyed the message:
"We do not encourage using Bitcoin for non-financial purposes, but we accept that in a censorship-resistant system, Bitcoin will and should be used for purposes not everyone agrees with."
A statement on Bitcoin Core development and transaction relay policy - https://t.co/K4AaPPqTSD
— Bitcoin Core Project (@bitcoincoreorg) June 7, 2025
They argue that forcing users to use private channels like Slipstream to send transactions directly threatens the network's decentralization. This inadvertently grants too much control to certain centralized entities, thereby breaking Bitcoin's inherent open and equal nature.
Community Reactions
However, not everyone agrees. Samson Mow, founder of Jan3 and a prominent voice in the Bitcoin community, strongly criticized this perspective:
"Bitcoin Core developers are gradually changing the network to facilitate spam, and now seem to want to remove barriers for spammers. The statement is disingenuous."
Bitcoin Core devs have been changing the network gradually to enable spam and now seem focused on also removing barriers for spammers. It's disingenuous to just say "it is what it is now, too bad."
— Samson Mow (@Excellion) June 7, 2025
This statement itself is also inappropriate. Feels like an NYA from Core devs. https://t.co/ACIqyvK12f
According to Mow and those who share his view, not controlling non-financial, low-fee, or spam transactions will clog the network, weaken genuine user experience, and contradict Bitcoin's mission of serving financial transactions.
In summary, this debate highlights the core contradiction between two major Bitcoin principles:
On one hand, censorship resistance is Bitcoin's non-negotiable foundation, meaning anyone can access and use the network without permission.
On the other hand, the network's efficiency and sustainability require coordination, prioritization, and sometimes filtering to prevent abuse and keep the system running smoothly.
Compiled by Coin68
