Bitcoin’s realized cap is now $43 billion above the 2017 all-time high

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Bitcoin’s realized capitalization has soared above its 2017 record high, but Ethereum’s has struggled to reclaim its former highs

Crypto market data aggregator Glassnode has published data indicating that Bitcoin’s (BTC) realized capitalization has increased by more than 50% since tagging its all-time high of $20,000 at the end of 2017.

The realized capitalization metric measures the value of each BTC when it was last moved on-chain, which enables analysts to estimate the aggregate cost-basis of market participants.

However, coins on centralized exchanges are absent from the metric, indicating the data is probably more accurate in terms of the cost-basis of long-term investors rather than intra-day speculators.

Bitcoin’s realized cap currently sits at $115 billion — $43 billion more than at the all-time high in 2017. Bitcoin’s current $190 billion market cap suggests that the BTC hodlers are presently enjoying an aggregate profit of 65%.

BTC’s realized capitalization: Glassnode

Coinmetrics’ chart shows that realized capitalization continued to grow higher in the early months of 2018, pushing to test $90 billion three times between January and May despite prices having crashed back below $10,000.

While pre-halving speculation saw Bitcoin’s realized cap grow by 6% in Q2 2020, the violent ‘Black Thursday‘ crash quickly reversed 2020’s gains. Since May, the BTC’s realized capitalization has steadily trended upwards.

According to crypto data researchers IntoTheBlock, more than 72% of crypto addresses are currently profitable, with the largest sum of investments having been made in the $1,040 to $5,285, and $8,450 to $9,560, price ranges.

Number of BTC wallets that are currently in profit: Intotheblock

Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum’s (ETH) realized capitalization of $26.3 billion is still a long way from reclaiming its past highs — currently sitting 25% lower than its 2018 record of $35 billion.

Ether’s realized cap also experienced a much longer down-trend than BTC, having posted a local low of $22.4 billion during mid-April 2020. According to Intotheblock, 62% of Ether addresses are currently in profit, the largest share of which were purchased for less than $160.

ETH’s realized capitalization: Glassnode