Active supply of Bitcoin and Ethereum at record lows

The supply of Bitcoin and Ether has experienced distinct trends over the years. Bitcoin’s supply has been gradually increasing due to its predetermined mining rate, which is halved approximately every four years in an event known as “halving.” On the other hand, Ether’s supply has been more variable, influenced by changes like the transition to Ethereum 2.0 and the introduction of burning mechanisms in its transaction fee model.

Recent data from The Block indicates a significant decrease in the percentage of tokens that have moved in the past year for both Bitcoin and Ether, reaching record lows. At its peak, over 59% of Bitcoin’s supply was active between March 2017 and 2018, but in the past year, only 30.12% of its supply has changed hands. Ether experienced a similar trend, with over 86% of its supply moving between July 2016 and 2017, but in the past year, only 39.15% of its supply was active​​​​.

For Bitcoin, this record low active supply precedes the anticipated halving of block emission rewards, projected to occur in April of the following year. The percentage of tokens that haven’t been touched for three and five years are also at record lows. Over the past three years, only 58.58% of Bitcoin’s supply has changed hands, compared to over 73% at its peak in late 2019, while the five-year active supply has fallen from a maximum of 83% to 70.13%. Despite the high supply of inactive coins, transactions on the network are nearing their peak.

Ethereum’s supply, as of November 2023, is approximately 120.25 million ETH, which is a slight decrease from the previous year​​.