Supply in Profit

What it is

The total number of coins that are currently in profit: coins whose current price is higher than the price at the moment they last moved on the blockchain. It shows how much of the supply could be sold at a profit today. The value is expressed in coins, not in dollars.

How it is calculated

The blockchain stores coins as unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs). Each UTXO is assigned the asset price on the day it was created. At the end of each day, all UTXOs created at a price lower than the current price are summed:

Supply in Profit = UTXO_1 + UTXO_2 + ... + UTXO_n, where UTXO_1 ... UTXO_n are all unspent outputs with Creation Price below Current Price

UTXO (unspent transaction output) — a portion of coins created by a transaction and not yet spent, similar to a banknote in a wallet. Every coin in circulation belongs to exactly one UTXO.

Creation Price — the asset price in US dollars on the day the UTXO was created, used as an estimate of the price its holder paid.

Current Price — the latest asset price in US dollars.

How to read it

Rising — more coins are moving into profit, usually because the price is rising above levels where large amounts of coins last changed hands.

Falling — the price is dropping below the acquisition price of a growing part of the supply, putting more holders at an unrealized loss.

Close to total supply — almost all holders are in profit. Historically, this has been typical of strong bull markets and periods of increased profit-taking.

Far below total supply — a large part of holders are at a loss. Historically, such periods have coincided with bear markets and long-term market bottoms.

What it is used for

Assessing overall holder profitability, estimating potential selling pressure from profit-taking, and identifying market phases. The metric is most informative when compared with the total supply in circulation.

Limitations

The absolute value grows as new coins are issued, so comparisons over long periods are more meaningful as a share of total supply. The creation price is only an estimate of the purchase price: moving coins between one's own addresses or exchange wallets resets it without a real purchase. Lost coins created at old low prices remain in profit permanently. The metric applies only to blockchains that use the UTXO model.