Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) appear to be experiencing something of a slowdown, every bit on-chain data shows a dramatic subtract in the U.S dollar value of coins being sent beyond both blockchains in the past week. At the same time, transaction fees for both chains take receded from contempo highs, or in Ethereum's case, an best high.

Data from Bitinfocharts shows $46.68 billion worth of BTC was sent across the Bitcoin blockchain on Feb. 25. For some context, that's around five% of the total Bitcoin market cap, which stands at $925 billion at fourth dimension of writing.

Bitcoin sent in U.S. dollars. Source: Bitinfocharts.com

By 3 days later, on February. 28, the U.S. dollar value of Bitcoin being sent had fallen to $fifteen.38 billion — a 66% drop off. At the aforementioned time, the average transaction fee for Bitcoin users fell by 53% — from $31.47 to $14.63. For context, the highest boilerplate fees ever recorded for Bitcoin came in December 2017 when BTC fees exceeded $55, mark the finish of the coin'south bull run for that period.

Bitcoin average transaction fee. Source: Bitinfocharts.com

Over on Ethereum, the slowdown was equally pronounced. In the four days between February. 23–27, the total value of coins sent across the Ethereum blockchain brutal 65%  from $11.ane billion to $iii.84 billion.

Ether sent in U.S. dollars. Source: Bitinfocharts.com

Meanwhile, boilerplate Ethereum transaction fees, which had soared to an all-time high of $38.21 past Feb. 23, dropped lxx% downwards to $xi.21.

Ethereum boilerplate transaction fee. Source: Bitinfocharts.com

The boilerplate fee statistic can often be misleading, as it is heavily weighted past the mass of large transactions that incur super-high fees. The typical Ethereum user may be more interested in the median transaction fee value, which also fell 72% downward to $5.23. For context, the recommended fee for making a "rapid" Ethereum transaction is currently around $two.80 according to GasNow.org.

Such a sizable slowdown in activity on both blockchains could exist interpreted by some as a sign that the electric current balderdash run is grinding to a halt. Even so a glance at the recent history of both chains shows that such pullbacks are not uncommon.

In January, the dollar value of Bitcoin transactions fell 72% over a two-week period, earlier picking back up again to soar even higher in February. Besides, the average Bitcoin transaction fee dropped 58% in the same time period. The same general pattern was observed on Ethereum.

With this in mind, it is in all likelihood likewise early on to assume that the current slowdown is indicative of the end of the crypto bull run, at to the lowest degree based on these metrics lone. Indeed, in the 7 days since these metrics bottomed out, they have since begun to ascent over again, every bit the ebb and flow of the cryptocurrency marketplace continues.