Active Addresses

What it measures

Count of unique BTC addresses that sent or received a transaction on a given day.

Formula

A direct on-chain count, not derived from other metrics.

Normal range

Varies with overall network usage; rising activity alongside rising price is generally read as healthier than rising price on falling activity.

How it fails

One person or entity can control many addresses (and one address can be shared by many people via a custodial service), so this is a blunt instrument for "how many people are actually using Bitcoin" - it measures address-level activity, not unique humans.

Related metrics

MVRV

Bull read

Rising activity alongside rising price suggests broadening participation, not just existing holders repricing the same coins.

Bear read

A single entity's address-management behavior (batching, consolidating UTXOs) can move this number without reflecting any real change in demand.