A renewed spike in Runes protocol activity is pushing Bitcoin’s transaction counts and fee revenues to multi-year highs.
Even as Bitcoin remains in a prolonged bear market, on-chain activity has continued to accelerate.
According to Glassnode data, daily Bitcoin transactions have recently climbed above 820,000, while BTC trades near $62,000—around 50% below its peak in October. This stands out because network usage typically contracts during extended price declines.
The latest reading marks the highest transaction level since April 23, 2024, shortly after the previous halving and the introduction of the Runes protocol, a fungible token standard that previously triggered a surge in on-chain fees.
Inspired by Ethereum’s ERC-20 model, Runes allows users to issue and transfer fungible tokens directly on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Activity linked to Runes is again fueling network congestion, with “Runestone” transactions exceeding 600,000 per day—also the highest in roughly two years, based on Glassnode figures.
This resurgence is having a clear impact on Bitcoin’s fee structure. Runes-related transactions now represent about a quarter of total network fees, reaching multi-year highs and signaling that demand for block space is increasingly coming from applications beyond basic BTC transfers.
Although Bitcoin has long been criticized for limited on-chain utility and a reliance on price speculation, the recent uptick in activity suggests the network is still seeing meaningful usage even amid a sustained downturn.
