Bull return speed? 4 charts to understand on-chain data trends - ChainCatcher

Bitcoin price has once again surpassed $94,000 today, and altcoins have risen alongside it. Behind this wave of market activity, has on-chain data already released signals of a bull run? By analyzing key indicators such as volume, wallet addresses, and coin distribution, we can gain insights into market trends from the underlying logic.

Is it a temporary fluctuation led by institutions, or a future carnival lurking beneath the on-chain whales?

volume and market heat

Data source: bitsCrunch.com

According to bitsCrunch data, the total network volume reached $39.9 billion in the past 24 hours, with the number of transactions exceeding 7.2 million, and the number of unique addresses participating in the transactions at 3.03 million, involving 13,800 types of tokens. Since July 2023, the volume has continuously risen from a low of 2M to 10M, especially accelerating after April 2024, significantly enhancing market liquidity. Although the number of on-chain transactions saw a sharp decline in March this year, there is an overall short-term upward trend.

Trader Structure

Data source: bitsCrunch.com

The Traders' Trend chart reveals the number of on-chain traders that have fluctuated since 2023. According to bitsCrunch data, the number of traders fell below 2M at one point in October 2023, but rebounded quickly to 8M in the second half of 2024 and remained at a relatively high in January 2025. This change is highly consistent with the "recovery-explosion" phase of the market cycle. It is important to note that the growth in the number of traders is not linear, with short-term corrections occurring in the middle of every quarter (e.g., May, August). From the chart, we can also see the phased adjustment of the sentiment of institutional investors and retail investors by the explosive news. However, the current daily active traders at 3.03M are still at a relatively low point, only a third of the peak, and need to be further observed.

on-chain token holding distribution

Data source: bitsCrunch.com

Among the traders mentioned above, bitsCrunch further categorizes wallet addresses based on different holding amounts. Currently, there are 1,052 "Mega Whale" wallets holding over $100 million in assets, while retail investors (Shrimp, < $10,000) hold an absolute majority with approximately 214M wallets, but their total amount is far less than that of the whales. This "80/20 division" is particularly typical in financial markets—whales often enter the market first to accumulate, followed by smaller funds that drive up asset prices. It is worth noting that the number of wallets at the "Dolphin" (1M-10M) and "Fish" (10K-100K) levels also provides key support for market liquidity.

token ecosystem

Data source: bitsCrunch.com

As seen in the above chart, the on-chain transactions on the Polygon chain are relatively stable, with daily transactions stabilizing around 4K. It is noteworthy that, according to bitsCrunch's data on the Ethereum chain, there was a significant decline in on-chain activity on Ethereum at the beginning of 2025, while the price reaction lagged further behind. With more Layer 1s being launched, the reduced activity in the Ethereum ecosystem may reshape the market landscape.

Conclusion

Although Bitcoin has returned to 90,000 and many alts have seen significant rises, the current market's on-chain trading volume has not yet returned to a relatively active level. With the news policies and regulations in 2025 running parallel, the structure of on-chain traders has also become more diversified, with whales and retail investors active simultaneously. Even with new hotspots and tracks, investors still need to pay attention to marginal data changes, maintain rationality in a fervent market, and be mindful of tracking whale activities to avoid potential short-term selling pressure caused by the highly concentrated distribution of funds.