Bitcoin’s active address momentum has sunk to its weakest point since April 2018, even as a separate index that tracks overall network health has entered what analysts call a bull phase for the first time in about a year.
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A market driven by fewer, more committed players
According to data from CryptoQuant, the momentum metric for active addresses dropped to -0.25 on April 6. The figure tracks how quickly the number of active addresses changes, and a negative value indicates declining user participation.
These types of low numbers have persisted since July 2025 – a period that mirrors a similar period in 2024, followed by a 35% price drop.
Crypto analyst Gaah, writing on CryptoQuant, says the numbers reflect the absence of short-term traders in the market. What remains, the analyst argues, is a base of long-term holders focused on stable buying rather than trading.
But even as daily user activity declines, the portfolios of long-term and retail-related investors are filling up. Facts shows that BTC in the collected address cohorts has reached 4.37 million coins as of Tuesday – more than double the approximately 2 million the same group held at the beginning of 2024.
Retail-linked addresses alone added approximately 857,000 BTC, while wallets that buy at regular intervals with little outflow increased their combined holdings to nearly 1.30 million BTC. This all happened while Bitcoin price remained below $70,000 through the entire first quarter of 2026.
Alternating current slows down to a fraction of previous cycles
The movement of coins through centralized exchanges has fallen sharply compared to previous growth periods. During the expansion from 2023 to 2024, the inflow from highly active addresses was often between 1.2 million and 1.5 million BTC.
Reports indicate that recent figures are averaging between 300,000 and 350,000 BTC – about a quarter of that pace. Less coin circulates through trading platforms, and more is held off-market in long-term storage.
That shift reduces the available supply. When there are fewer coins on exchanges ready to be sold, the liquid supply shrinks and the market becomes more sensitive to any increase in demand.
Network activity index exceeds an important threshold
The CryptoQuant Bitcoin network activity index rose to 3,600 from 3,320 on March 22. The index brings together transaction numbers and broader throughput signals into a single measure. It rose above its 365-day moving average for the first time since December 2024, a level that CryptoQuant associates with a bull phase – the first signal since April 2025.
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The split between the two metrics tells an unusual story. One index flashes positive. The other is at an eight-year low. Reports suggest that the current phase is being driven by accumulation rather than widespread network usage or new participants entering the market.
Bitcoin was trade at $72,045 at time of publication, up almost 5% on the day.
Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView