GlossaryActive addresses

Active addresses

Active addresses count how many different addresses took part in at least one transaction on a given day, as sender or receiver. It is a rough measure of how heavily a network is used.

How to read it

  • Rising activity often goes along with rising prices: new participants and more trading use the network. A rally without more activity stands on thinner ground.
  • What matters is the trend over weeks and months. Single days swing a lot, and weekends are usually quieter.
  • A sudden jump in a falling market can also show panic: many people are moving their coins at the same time.

Limitations

  • Addresses are not users. One person can use many addresses, and an exchange pools many customers on a few.
  • The absolute value is hard to compare across the years. A smoothed version, measured against its own yearly average, is available as “mantacharts: Active addresses (BTC)”.
  • Daily values: On an hourly chart, the same value stands for a whole day.
  • Bitcoin and Ethereum only. The only settings are on the Style tab (Appearance, default: line).

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