After a volatile end to 2022, Bitcoin ended the first quarter in the green with an impressive 70% gain.
Core web activity paints a bullish picture amid a broader market recovery. According to aggregated network and asset performance data for the first quarter, there were more than 800 million Bitcoin transactions totaling more than $107 trillion. That’s a huge feat for a network that’s only been around since 2008.
Despite the bear market, active addresses on the Bitcoin network are on the rise.
In terms of distributed supply, the number of entities holding less than 10 BTC also increased to 17% of the total supply.
The Taproot soft fork that went into effect last November brought about the arrival of Ordinals and BRC-20 on Bitcoin. While this has been debated, a significant increase in Taproot adoption and usage can be observed.
As the number of transactions surges, it is expected to generate more income for miners in the form of transaction fees.
The increase in total transaction fees, and the percentage of revenue that miners earn from fees, signals a sustainable security model for Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, the network’s hash rate is hovering near all-time highs after reaching a record 400 Eh/s, providing a much-needed boost to the shrinking mining industry.
Bitcoin’s Lightning Network capacity also exceeds $50 million. This change has fueled its growth despite low adoption.
A recent report from Valkyrie Investments noted that LN adoption is gaining popularity in emerging markets such as South America and Africa, thanks in large part to the efforts of mobile payment app LN Strike.
Bitcoin also outperformed most assets in the first quarter, according to ITB research, “suggesting its growing appeal as a digital store of value, while Bitcoin’s correlation with gold increased from -0.3 at the start of the year 0.9 by the end of the first quarter.”
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According to Cryptopotato
