Gate Research: Q1 BTC Network Review

Abstract

• Bitcoin (BTC) hit a record high on January 20, briefly surpassing 108,228 USDT and pushing its market cap to around $2.1 trillion. It then entered a consolidation phase, and by March 31, its market cap had declined to $1.6 trillion—down about 12% for the quarter. In contrast, gold gained nearly 20%, reflecting increased risk aversion in the market.

• BTC ownership remains highly concentrated, with addresses holding 100 to 10,000 BTC collectively controlling over 9M bitcoins—giving them significant price influence.

• On-chain activity remained strong, with average transaction values rising 26% from Q4, while fees dropped by 42.5%.
• Layer 2 networks on Bitcoin hold around $2.2 billion in TVL, down 13% since year-end but still stable overall. CORE remains the dominant protocol. Newcomer Hemi, launched in March, quickly grew its TVL to $209M, showing strong momentum. Major protocols show resilience, while smaller projects are more sensitive to market sentiment.

• Mining difficulty rose to 114T by March 31, up 3.8% from 109.78T at the end of 2024.
• Bitcoin’s core development team has enhanced network efficiency and block space usage by improving fee estimation and script execution—paving the way for more advanced applications.
• Looking ahead to Q2, priorities include improving privacy, transaction processing, and Layer 2 support. Work is already underway, with tangible progress expected this quarter.
  
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