The total fees paid on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) recently fell to around $593,000, making it the lowest cost to use the network since at least August 2025.
The collapse in trading activity on one of the crypto industry’s busiest highways is bringing back memories of a similar demand drought last summer, just before Bitcoin’s 95% rally.$BTC).
Silent market sends historic signal
Blockchain fees are the clearest measure of user demand, representing how much people pay to move tokens or use decentralized applications. A sharp drop in prices indicates less congestion on the network and less speculative interest.
On February 23, BSC fees fell to $593,000, well below the low of $1.07 million recorded on August 7, 2025, according to data from analyst Amr Taha. At the time, Bitcoin was trading around $55,000, and Taha said lower fees helped create a big bottom before entering a bull market that saw Bitcoin prices skyrocket by more than 95%.
On-chain watchers also noted that the realized market capitalization of short-term Bitcoin holders has plummeted, falling to approximately $386 billion on February 24, well below the previous low of $440 billion recorded on April 8, 2025.
Historically, similar contractions have coincided with periods of intense capitulation that precede a rebound. $BTC From about $78,000 to over $108,000 after the April 2025 low.
Derivatives and the road to recovery
While the decline in spot trading is alarming, the derivatives market is experiencing a structural reset that could pave the way for the next move. According to XWIN Research Japan, open interest in Bitcoin futures has decreased significantly, reflecting the widespread deleveraging phase. Analysts at the agency said the recent price decline was accompanied by a decline in open interest, indicating that liquidations and derivative-driven unwinding rather than aggressive spot selling were driving the decline. This type of reset can stabilize the market even if it does not show new demand immediately.
Further complicating the outlook is the structure of the options market. Coinbase Institutional analysis shows a significant concentration of negative gamma bands between $60,000 and $70,000. If a dealer holds a negative gamma, hedging activity could amplify price movements and could accelerate selling below $60,000.
Despite the cautious tone, some on-chain metrics are showing signs of stability, with Binance’s fund flow ratio remaining low at around 0.012, suggesting limited sell-side pressure for the time being. In the recent decline towards the mid-$60,000 area, this ratio did not spike. This means that there was no spot inflow due to panic.
However, as XWIN Research pointed out, the weakness of inflows does not equal the strength of accumulation, and the medium-term trend of demand indicators has not yet decisively turned upward.
Stronger spot volume support is essential to form a durable sole. As it stands, Bitcoin is trading at just over $68,000 at the time of writing, down about 23% in the past month and more than 46% below its all-time high of over $126,000.
