BIS says BTC on-chain transfer volume can vary by as much as 6x by methodology

Bitcoin on-chain transfer volume can vary by as much as sixfold depending on the measurement method, meaning on-chain metrics require caution in interpretation, Cointelegraph reported, citing a Bank for International Settlements study. The study said BTC transactions can return unused funds to the sender as change, and whether those amounts are included in transfer volume can materially alter the figures. It also found that Bitcoin’s standard market capitalization was at times as much as four times higher than realized capitalization, while USDT serves different primary purposes on Ethereum and TRON, meaning simply aggregating activity across chains can obscure the nature of actual economic activity. BIS researchers said on-chain indicators should be viewed not as direct measures of economic activity but as noisy approximations.