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MVRV: definition and bitcoin history

The ratio between an asset’s market value and its realized value, meaning the price at which each unit last moved. A high value signals holders sitting on large unrealized gains.

Chart of the bitcoin price and its MVRV ratio since 2017, with a peak at 4.72 in December 2017 and a low at 0.69 in December 2018.
Bitcoin MVRV ratio (Coin Metrics) and BTC price, from August 2017 to 7 October 2026.Chart licensed under CC BY 4.0: you may reuse it with the credit “Metena (metena.app)”.

Definition

Market capitalisation values every bitcoin at today’s price. Realised value values each one at the price of its last move on the blockchain, roughly the average cost basis of holders. MVRV is the ratio of the two.

Above 3, holders are on average sitting on large unrealised gains, and the urge to sell grows. Below 1, the market is worth less than it cost on average: these periods matched the lows of past cycles. These thresholds are historical observations, not rules.

How to read the chart

At the top, the bitcoin price on a logarithmic scale. At the bottom, MVRV, with two markers: 3.5 in red and 1 in green.

Moves above 3.5 and below 1 have been rare and short.

Worked example

Bitcoin’s MVRV reached 4.72 on 7 December 2017, ten days before that cycle’s top, and fell to 0.69 on 15 December 2018, the day of the low. Since August 2017, it has spent 44 days above 3.5 and 319 days below 1. On 7 October 2026, it stands at 1.55.

In Metena

MVRV is available as a condition in a Metena strategy, for example to add to purchases only when it is below a threshold.

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Related terms

On-chain
Describes data read directly from the blockchain: active addresses, transfers, flows to exchanges. It shows a network’s real usage, not just its price.
Fear & Greed
A sentiment index from 0 (extreme fear) to 100 (extreme greed) that combines several measures of market behavior.
Maximum drawdown
The largest fall, as a percentage, from a peak to the low that follows. It measures what you must be able to withstand without abandoning your strategy.
Thesis
Your reason for investing, written down: why you buy, over what horizon, and what has to happen for you to be right. A clear thesis stops you improvising when the market moves.

Put these ideas into practice.

Write your strategy in a few minutes: Metena analyses it when you ask and explains each term in context.

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Educational content. It is not investment advice. Crypto-assets carry a high risk that can go as far as the total loss of capital.