These 4 Bitcoin Onchain Metrics Point to ‘Weaker Demand’ for BTC

Bitcoin (BTC) price struggled to break above $72,000, as several key onchain metrics highlighted weakening demand for BTC, casting doubts on its upside potential.

Key takeaways:

• Bitcoin investors shift to distribution as whales and smaller cohorts aggressively sell under weak market conditions.

• Bitcoin whale transaction count hits multi-year lows, as smart money waits for policy and geopolitical clarity.

• Bitcoin’s hash rate fell sharply amid rising energy costs, increasing chances of miner capitulation.

Bitcoin investors “shift to distribution”

Bitcoin investors have are increasingly risk-off, distributing their BTC holdings amid the recent price weakness fueled by the US and Israel-Iran war and other macroeconomic headwinds.

Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score (ATS) is near zero (light yellow), indicating that the whales are distributing their BTC holdings or not accumulating. 

Related: Bitcoin retakes $71K as US sends Iran 15-point ceasefire plan

The drop in the trend score indicates a transition from accumulation to distribution across almost all cohorts. This shift mirrors a similar pattern observed in early 2025, which aligned with Bitcoin’s drop to $74,500 in April 2025. 

Additional data from Glassnode shows a “shift toward distribution or inactivity” among small to mid-sized entities holding less than 1,000 BTC.

This is in contrast to “Q4 2024, where broad cohort accumulation preceded a sustained rally,” the onchain data provider said in a Tuesday post on X, adding:

“Heavy participation across wallet sizes remains a precondition for any durable recovery.”

Bitcoin whale activity “historically quiet”

Reflecting this distribution or inactive accumulation trend is Bitcoin’s whale activity, which has become “historically quiet,” according to Santiment.

Last week, daily BTC transactions above $100,000 fell to just 6,417, the lowest since September 2023. Meanwhile, transfers exceeding $1 million dropped to 1,485, levels last seen in October 2024. 

The declining whale activity is largely due to market participants waiting for “clarity from the CLARITY Act,” as well as a long-term solution to the war, according to the data analytics company.

This indicates that “smart money is reluctant to make moves with so much policy and global uncertainty at play,” Santiment added.

Declining Bitcoin network activity

Bitcoin’s inability to sustain the recovery is further evidenced by low network activity and less onchain demand. 

CryptoQuant’s Bitcoin network activity index, which tracks key indicators such as daily active addresses, total transactions count, and UTXO count, has been declining since August 2025.

This points to “weaker demand across the network,” CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn said in a recent post on X.

This aligns with weak onchain fundamentals such as liquidity and network growth as tracked by Bitcoin Vector’s fundamental index.

This metric “keeps trending lower and remains well below the strengthening zone,” Bitcoin Vector said in a Tuesday X post. 

The onchain data provider described the current market conditions as “stability without support,” rather than a healthy consolidation, adding:

“As long as onchain conditions stay weak, upside looks increasingly dependent on flow, short covering, or external catalysts, not organic strength. If fundamentals don’t recover, this kind of divergence usually doesn’t support a sustained mid-term recovery.”

Bitcoin mining hash rate drops 22%

Bitcoin’s hash rate, a metric that shows the level of mining activity, has dropped sharply over the last couple of weeks, meaning miners are shutting down machines.

The hash rate has fallen to 813 EH/s on Wednesday, from 1.2 ZH/s on March 5, representing a 22% decrease.

Rising energy costs, exacerbated by the US and Israel-Iran war, compressed the hash price below $34 per PH/s/day, which is below many miners’ breakeven levels. 

“Bitcoin miners are losing $19,000 on every coin they produce, and difficulty just dropped 7.8% as the miner exodus accelerates,” analysts at Token Metrics said in a recent post on X, adding:

“If difficulty drops another 5%+ within the next 7 days, miner capitulation is accelerating and spot sell pressure will intensify.”