The Bitcoin price witnessed another week of indecisive action, bubbling between the consolidation range of $105,000 and $110,000. The premier cryptocurrency briefly broke above the $110,000 mark on Thursday, July 3, but failed to hold above the psychologically relevant threshold on the day.
Despite the price resilience of Bitcoin, the market inactivity of a certain class of investors known as retail investors has persisted over the past few weeks. According to the latest on-chain data, the absence of this investor cohort is leading to a rare phenomenon on the Bitcoin network.
In a July 4 post on the X platform, Alphractal CEO and Founder Joao Wedson revealed that the Bitcoin network is currently witnessing a period of low activity. This trend of minimal blockchain activity has led to an uncommon phenomenon where the Mempool is almost empty.
For context, the mempool refers to a temporary storage area where pending BTC transactions wait to be confirmed. The mempool is typically congested during periods of elevated on-chain demand and network activity, as several transactions await processing.
Source: @joao_wedson on X
However, recent on-chain data from Alphractal shows that most transactions have been confirmed, leaving the mempool almost empty. The relevant on-chain metric here is the Bitcoin Mempool Transactions, which looks at the number of BTC transactions in the mempool at a given time.
According to Joao Wedson, this occurrence is a clear sign that retail investors have stayed out of the market over the past few months — as the almost nonexistent backlog reflects reduced demand for the Bitcoin network. Hence, a future increase in the mempool transactions could mean a return of retail demand to the market.
Typically, low transaction activity and an almost empty mempool are not a good sign for the price of BTC, as it reflects low demand from retail investors. However, there is no denying the shift in the market since the launch of the spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETF)
As Bitcoinist reported earlier, the Bitcoin price has managed to remain steady despite the low retail demand, thanks to institutional players and spot ETF investors. The BTC exchange-traded funds, for instance, look set for their fourth consecutive week of positive capital inflows.
As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $107,700, reflecting an almost 2% decline in the past 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko, the flagship cryptocurrency is up by almost 5% in the past two weeks.
The price of BTC on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.
Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has announced the listing of four…
U.S. banking regulators have issued a statement clarifying the rules around cryptocurrency safekeeping, or custody,…
Tensions in the crypto sector escalated over the weekend following allegations that Coinbase was the…
Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure Pump.fun’s long-anticipated…
Gold advocate Peter Schiff has dismissed Bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap as an arbitrary construct,…
Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure Public firms…