[2018-03-05] BTC Transaction Volume Reaches Two-Year Low

[PIMPdev]

The seven-day average for the number of daily bitcoin transactions has reached a two-year low, recently dropping below 160,000 for the first time since March 2016. The lull in transactions coincides with the weekly volume of bitcoins exchanged through peer-to-peer (P2P) trading volume on Localbitcoins recently dipping below 6,000 for the first time since February 2014.

https://news.bitcoin.com/number-of-confirmed-daily-btc-transactions-hits-two-year-low/

[eternalgloom]

I've read another article that states that the lower transaction volume might be due to more transactions being batched.
Up until very recently, Coinbase didn't even batch transactions if I recall correctly.

It's pretty logical that transaction volume decreases when many transactions are just combined into a single one.

Anyway, here's my source: https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/03/04/bitcoin-transaction-volume-decreases-batching-not-due-lack-demand/

[chocomartin]

Hi kind of a newbie question here. Transactions as in using btc to buy stuff? Or the buying and selling of btc itself? If it was the former, this is probably because people are starting to treat BTC as more of a stock than a currency right?

[BitHodler]

Up until very recently, Coinbase didn't even batch transactions if I recall correctly.

Coinbase still doesn't batch transactions when it comes to external withdrawals. I am not sure if they batch transactions when it comes to their internal structure, but I wouldn't be surprised if they actually did happen to do so.

The point is that the media sources need juicy articles and subjects, especially in times where there isn't any negativity to report about. It's them stating the very obvious, just so that they technically are right.

People should pay attention to the massive spam attack we experienced last year, which was one of the main reasons the fees literally exploded. Spam attack + hype + a lot new users coming in = temporary 'usage' peak.

If I look at the current fees, it almost feels like I'm robbing someone without actually robbing that person, lol. 

[Kprawn]

What people tend to forget is the following. Two years ago people did not have Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold and Ethereum

was not this popular. When Bitcoin struggled with scaling, these coins were forked and some people started to use these

coins, because they were faster and cheaper at the time. Since the introduction of SegWit, the tide has turned and Bitcoin

transactions became faster and cheaper again. It will take time for people to shift back to Bitcoin again, but with the

introduction of the Lightning Network, most traffic will return again. 

[hv_]

What people tend to forget is the following. Two years ago people did not have Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold and Ethereum

was not this popular. When Bitcoin struggled with scaling, these coins were forked and some people started to use these

coins, because they were faster and cheaper at the time. Since the introduction of SegWit, the tide has turned and Bitcoin

transactions became faster and cheaper again. It will take time for people to shift back to Bitcoin again, but with the

introduction of the Lightning Network, most traffic will return again. 

Hmm - this might be a Kodak-Dream

[eternalgloom]

Up until very recently, Coinbase didn't even batch transactions if I recall correctly.

Coinbase still doesn't batch transactions when it comes to external withdrawals. I am not sure if they batch transactions when it comes to their internal structure, but I wouldn't be surprised if they actually did happen to do so.

The point is that the media sources need juicy articles and subjects, especially in times where there isn't any negativity to report about. It's them stating the very obvious, just so that they technically are right.

People should pay attention to the massive spam attack we experienced last year, which was one of the main reasons the fees literally exploded. Spam attack + hype + a lot new users coming in = temporary 'usage' peak.

If I look at the current fees, it almost feels like I'm robbing someone without actually robbing that person, lol. 

Huh, Today I learned... I would have thought that they had started doing batch transactions by now, since they made the announcement a couple of months ago.
Further research indeed shows that they still aren't doing batch transactions.

You're right that the media often sensationalizes news like this, just to create drama where there isn't any...

[coolcoinz]

If I look at the current fees, it almost feels like I'm robbing someone without actually robbing that person, lol. 

It's a funny thing because back when the fees were crazy high the number of transactions was much higher. One might think that the cheaper it is to pay the more people will do it, guess not
I think the transactions fell because a lot of new people who went in because they heard that you can make a lot of money fast with Bitcoin lost money and got scared, while long time holders don't want to spend their coins because they see the potential. The prices are too low to waste coins on gadgets when they can be worth 20% more in a few weeks.