Bitcoin's 'Mempool' Nearly Empty as Prices Trade Near Lifetime Highs

The Bitcoin blockchain lacks meaningful on-chain activity, even as its native token, bitcoin BTC, trades near a record per-unit price. That's according to mempool – a holding area for unconfirmed blockchain transactions waiting to be included in a block by miners.

On Satuday, the mempool had just 5,000 odd transactions awaiting inclusion, with the tally rising to 15,000 at press time, still a far cry from 150,000 when BTC's price first rose above $100,000 in late 2024, according to data source Blockchain.com.

Since March this year, the tally has oscillated between $3,000 and $30,000, indicating anaemic demand for the network despite BTC establishing a foothold above $100,000.

"Bitcoin's mempool (queue of transactions waiting to be processed) is almost completely empty. The percentage of miner revenue coming from fees (instead of inflation) is down to a fraction of a percent," Joël Valenzuela, director of marketing and business development, said on X.

"Simply put, almost all of Bitcoin's actual users have gone away. At all-time price highs, too!" Valenzuela added, calling the situation a major crisis where the network goes bankrupt or becomes "completely custodial asset run by governments and institutions."

According to Joao Wedson, CEO and founder of crypto data analysis platform Alphractal, the idle mempool is a sign of missing retail participation in the market.

"When Mempool transactions begin to rise again, it's a clear sign that retail is back — because the growing backlog reflects increased demand for using the network," Wedson said.