Bitcoin recently reached a major milestone, surpassing one million active addresses within a single day.

Crypto market data provider CoinMetrics reports that there were 1,033,170 million active Bitcoin addresses on June 14th.

A long time coming

It’s been quite some time since the BTC blockchain has seen so many active addresses.

In fact, the last time there were more than one million active Bitcoin addresses was back on January 17th, 2018, at which time the digital currency was trading between US$10,700 [AU$15,600] and $11,500.

As the price of Bitcoin plummeted in 2018, the number of active addresses fell as well, bouncing between 500K and 700K for most of the year.

By contrast, the last six weeks have seen the number of active addresses go up, averaging 823k per day.

This uptick in addresses corresponds to the increase in the price of Bitcoin, which has climbed from roughly $5,800 at the start of May to its current price of $9,309.

Mixed reactions

The reaction to this major milestone being surpassed has been mixed on social media.

Some people are expressing enthusiasm, pointing out the increased Bitcoin price and the number of active addresses while also noting that transaction fees are lower than the last time there were one million Bitcoin addresses.

When Bitcoin first broke 1 million active addresses (Nov 27, 2017), 1 BTC was $9,352 and the median tx fee was $3.23. Yesterday 1 BTC was $8,230 and the median tx fee was $1.33. — Kevin Rooke (@kerooke) June 15, 2019

Others have expressed skepticism, saying that trading and using BTC are two different things entirely.

These individuals are quick to point out that the vast majority of Bitcoin users are hodling their cryptocurrency, not spending it, in the hopes that it will continue to go up in value.

Exactly how high Bitcoin prices will go is anyone’s guess but predictions by a number of Bitcoin bulls recently put it between $10,712 and $40,000 or more before the end of 2019.

Facebook and other factors

Then there are those who say that Bitcoin is just “keeping the seat warm” for Facebook’s cryptocurrency, the Libra, for when it comes into use.

We just getting the seat warm for Libra. @LibraReserve — bitcoinmc (@bitcoinmc3) June 16, 2019

Facebook has the potential to explode the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency due to its staggering reach of more than two billion users worldwide.

However, it should be noted that Facebook is not known for protecting the security and privacy of its users when it comes to data, which could be a major stumbling block when it comes to virtual currencies.

Also contributing to the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is the increased ability to spend them on day-to-day purchases.

Launched by the Flexa Network in mid-May, the SPEDN app gives users the ability to pay for purchases at Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, Whole Foods, GameStop, Office Depot, and 30,000 other online and offline retailers using BTC, BCH, ETH, and GUSD.