Bitcoin transaction volume reaches $100 billion, but how much of it is inflated is unknown

People seem to collect all sorts of statistics about the Bitcoin protocol. Interestingly, one of Bitcoin’s biggest milestones has been overlooked by many. On September 2, 2016, the total amount of Bitcoin transferred on the Bitcoin protocol since its inception exceeded $100 billion. This is undoubtedly a significant achievement, and we look forward to more breakthroughs in the future.

Statistics like these should be taken with a pinch of salt. Of course, the Bitcoin protocol did surpass $100 billion in transaction volume. However, a portion of that number was simply moved from one Bitcoin address to another, which makes the $100 billion worth of transactions a bit inflated. Still, it’s a great feat for the struggling Bitcoin.

Bitcoin transaction volume reaches major milestone

There are also questions about how much of this volume is ‘legitimate’. In other words, how much of this volume is users moving between their own bitcoin addresses. These factors also need to be taken into account.

Bitcoin’s milestone was indirectly driven by spam on the Bitcoin network in recent months. All of these small Bitcoin transactions count as part of the $100 billion in transactions. Although few people view the problem that way, network congestion has been a headache.

Despite the milestone, the vast majority of Bitcoin owners are still just holders. Using Bitcoin to purchase goods and services has become more common, but it still only accounts for a small portion of total transactions. Many investors see Bitcoin as an investment tool and they hold on to their funds as long as possible. This is not a bad thing, but if they were active users, the transaction volume would definitely not be just 100 billion, it would definitely be higher.

Compared to 8 years ago, Bitcoin has made significant progress along the way. Bitcoin has gone from being a frustrating idea to being the powerful engine of development it is today. Bitcoin's achievements today are by no means a one-day effort.