Bitcoin (BTC) Registers Yearly Peak of Transactions
Story by: Christine Masters
The Bitcoin (BTC) network marked a 12-month peak for transaction levels on Friday, carrying more than 366,000 in 24 hours. Blocktivity reported a higher number, but the inclusion of UTXO transfers essentially doubled the number without adding economic value.
Bitcoin transactions had fallen to lows around 280,000 in 24 hours, and the heightened activity was ascribed to multiple potential events, not just direct usage of BTC coins. In the past, most of the activity on the Bitcoin network was discovered to not directly reflect economic value. Despite the currently low transaction fees, actual Bitcoin usage and merchant adoption are still lagging.
One possible explanation for the activity was the Veriblock project, which issued transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain to secure its own network. Veriblock still uses a percentage of the Bitcoin network’s transactions, representing up to 27% of the total transaction count. Additionally, that count is growing, while the number of active addresses remains steady.
At the same time, Lightning Network is raising hopes with growing node count and transactions that carry economic value. Additional approaches to the Bitcoin network include TxTenna, an independent network using the technology of GoTenna to send direct signals and transfer BTC through Lightning Network nodes.
The 0.95 version of #TxTenna just appeared in the Play store. Many thanks to @SamouraiDevand @SamouraiWallet for making it happen. Also to @richblov8s for both finding and fixing an issue that prevented testing with the new txtenna-python server code.https://t.co/m2oEJn1xZd
— Richard Myers ⚡ (@remyers_) March 6, 2019
The fundamentals of Bitcoin – which include users, activity, and adoption – are being scrutinized ever more closely for signs of a price recovery. BTC mining remains relatively high due to favorable difficulty conditions, making the potential rewards higher. There are also expectations that mining may pick up again in a few months as the rainy season in China brings cheaper hydroelectric power. Other concerns involve the fact that Bitcoin blocks remain concentrated in the hands of a few miners, and some may be slowing down the transactions by mining empty blocks.
BTC hovered around $3,920 on Friday, managing a small-scale rally in recent days and appreciating ahead of the weekend.
Original story: https://cryptovest.com/news/bitcoin-btc-registers-yearly-peak-of-transactions/
by 