This is pretty much expected. Industry bellwether Bitcoin had seen its daily transaction volumes fall from an average of around 360,000 a day in late 2017 to just 230,000 in September 2018.

Meanwhile, daily transaction values were down from more than $3.7 billion to less than $670 million in the same period. Writing in a study with the catchy title The Future of Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin & Altcoin Trends & Challenges 2018-2023, Juniper said the market has contracted.

In the first quarter, cryptocurrency transactions totalled just over $1.4 trillion, compared with less than $1.7 trillion for 2017, Juniper said.

However, by the second quarter, transaction values had plummeted by 75 percent, with total market capitalisation falling to just under $355 billion.

"Based on activity during the first half of Q3, Juniper estimates a further 47 percent quarter-on-quarter drop in transaction values in that quarter", the researcher said in an accompanying white paper.