Stagnation of the Bitcoin network: active supply plateaus as price volatility decreases

Silent networks and an inactive offer indicate social demotivation, which often occurs before sentiment and price stories change.

Bitcoin traded around the mid-$60,000s after losing significant ground from late 2025 highs. Despite several attempts, the country has been unable to regain the psychologically crucial $70,000 threshold.

According to data shared by Alpharactal, the on-chain activity of the world’s largest cryptocurrency and blockchain is showing signs of stagnation.

A bearish divergence emerges

The company reported that Bitcoin’s active supply has stopped growing, indicating that less BTC is moving across the network and that overall activity has slowed. The latest decline goes beyond market structure and reflects “global human behavior,” as weaker prices and rising uncertainty have made participants less willing to act.

Alphractal explained that holders are increasingly keeping coins inactive, which has resulted in a quieter network. This stage is described as ‘social demotivation’ in the chain, amid emotional fatigue, reduced commitment and a lack of conviction. Such behavioral changes often come to light before broader market narratives change.

Also the data from Santiment reported a sharp deterioration in Bitcoin network activity compared to 2021 levels, with 42% fewer unique BTC addresses transacting and 47% fewer new addresses being created. These trends don’t mean that crypto is “dead” or that a multi-year bear market is inevitable. However, the analytics platform did highlight a clear bearish divergence developing in 2025, as total market caps continued to reach new highs even as BTC’s on-chain utility fell.

The accumulation of whales is accelerating

Even as participation on the chain has declined, accumulation by large BTC holders has accelerated. Bitcoin whale accumulation has increased by over 200,000 BTC in recent weeks. While whale inflows into the exchanges have increased, a trend often linked to short-term sales, overall whale stocks have continued to rise.

To assess behavior over time, CryptoQuant tracks whale supply based on monthly averages rather than short-term flows. This measure fell sharply to almost minus 7% on December 15, but has since reversed as whale ownership increased by 3.4% over the past month.

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During this period, the amount of Bitcoin held by the whales grew from approximately 2.9 million BTC to over 3.1 million BTC. CryptoQuant noted that a similar scale of accumulation last occurred during the April 2025 market correction, when buying whales helped absorb selling pressure and fueled the BTC rally from $76,000 to $126,000. With Bitcoin 46% below its peak, current levels could encourage some large holders to accumulate.