Bitcoin lost fee boosts from inscribing Ordinals and Runes transfers. The anticipated Bitcoin DeFi summer did not materialize, and BRC-20 tokens failed to gain traction. Block fees for faster transactions dropped to levels not seen since Q1 2023, before the introduction of Bitcoin-based tokens.
On-chain activity has slowed down, as most coins are held for long-term value. Daily confirmed transactions are also unpredictable, with some days seeing nearly 800K active wallets and more than 700K transactions, while on other days, Bitcoin activity returns to 2022 bear market levels.
Mining activity is still close to its high range, but September saw some of the hashrate shut down. The Bitcoin network decreased its activity from 756 EH/s to 636 EH/s, down by 26% over the past four weeks.
A small portion of the hashrate shifted to Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which was occasionally more profitable to mine. The drop in mining power, however, could be strategic, aiming to benefit from the reduced mining difficulty, which was adjusted downward on September 26. This reset potentially gives miners two weeks of easier block discovery.