Bitcoin's blockchain activity has declined sharply in 2025, with daily transaction fees dropping from approximately 4.7 BTC in January to just over 2 BTC in May—a 56% decrease. Average block size has contracted by around 10% since the first quarter, settling near 1.53 MB. Despite reduced network congestion, Bitcoin maintains price levels above $110,000, though miners now depend more heavily on block subsidies as fee income diminishes.

Mastercard is in advanced negotiations to acquire Zero Hash, a regulated crypto-settlement platform, for approximately $1.5 to $2 billion, according to Reuters. Zero Hash processes tokenized fund flows for issuers including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton across twenty-two blockchains. The acquisition would integrate stablecoin settlement capabilities into Mastercard's global payments network, enabling T+0 settlement while maintaining regulatory compliance.