Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, is trading in a very small price range below 79,000 dollars. This means the price is not going up or down much in a short time. Many other crypto assets are following a similar pattern. Still, many experts think Bitcoin has reasons to be optimistic about the future.
Two big names published a joint report. The report comes from Coinbase and Glassnode. They say Bitcoin looks stronger than many other coins, called altcoins. Altcoins are all cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin. These altcoins are still dealing with problems from a big fall last October.
Bitcoin’s health looks better as 2026 starts. The report says the market has cleaned up a lot of risky use of borrowed money. This happened mainly in the last part of 2025, the fourth quarter. When people borrow a lot to buy more of something, it can create big price swings. The report says that risk is now lower. This helps several on-chain indicators, which track activity directly on the Bitcoin network, look healthier overall.
One important measure in the report is called Net Unrealized Profit/Loss, or NUPL. This number shows how much of the market’s money is in profit right now. It also hints at how investors feel. After last October’s sell-off, NUPL dropped from a hopeful mood to a more anxious mood. This feeling stayed through the end of 2025. In plain language, many investors worried that prices could fall again even as some buying happened.
Another key figure is Bitcoin’s realized price. This price is about the average price at which coins last moved on the blockchain. If the realized price goes up, it means the market’s average buying price is higher. In early 2026, the realized price kept rising. Bitcoin’s spot price stays above this realized price. That means most holders are still in profit, not at a loss.
The Market Value to Realized Value, or MVRV, is another ratio the report looks at. It compares the current market price to the realized price. The current MVRV is around 1.5. This tells us Bitcoin is trading for about a 50% premium to its on-chain cost basis. In simple terms, traders are paying more than the average price at which coins last moved on the network.
During the last quarter of 2025, the share of BTC that is in profit dropped a lot. This change suggests that the price range between 80,000 and 85,000 dollars may have become a place where some investors chose to accumulate more coins. They used strategy models to guide their buying.
There were also changes in how coins moved. Dormant supply means coins that have not moved for a long time. Active supply means coins that moved recently. The report shows that supply that moved within the past three months rose by 37% in the fourth quarter of 2025. At the same time, the share of coins that had not moved for more than a year fell by 2%. This could point to more rapid movement of coins during that period, something experts call high-velocity distribution.
Another metric, the Puell Multiple, fell to 0.9 in the fourth quarter. This means miners were earning about 10% less than the average over the previous year. Miners are the people who use specialized computers to process transactions and keep the Bitcoin network secure. When their earnings drop, it can influence how many coins are sold or kept on the market.
Looking at long-term holders and the balance of coins on exchanges, the researchers noted some profit-taking between July and September 2025. Profit-taking means selling some coins to lock in profits. But in the fourth quarter of 2025, there wasn’t a clear pattern of heavy profit-taking like in earlier months. In short, the big, clear moves in behavior were not as obvious in Q4 2025.
All in all, the report suggests Bitcoin is in better shape as 2026 begins. The market has reduced a lot of the risk that built up in late 2025. But the price is still not making big moves up or down yet. It is important to remember that these are indicators, not a guarantee of what will happen next. Bitcoin’s price will be influenced by many things, including the wider economy, government rules, and how investors feel day by day.
The original reporting about this topic comes from CryptoPotato. The article is titled “What On-Chain Metrics Say About Bitcoin’s (BTC) Market Reset.”
Definitions you might find helpful:
- Bitcoin is the first decentralized cryptocurrency that works on a peer-to-peer network and uses a public blockchain. It was created in 2009 by an unknown person or group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin
- Coinbase is an American cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2012. It is one of the largest U.S.-based crypto exchanges and a major custodian of bitcoin. Coinbase
Notes: On-chain metrics are numbers that come from data recorded directly on the Bitcoin network. They help analysts understand what is happening with buying, selling, and holding Bitcoin. The NUPL and MVRV terms stand for Net Unrealized Profit/Loss and Market Value to Realized Value, respectively. If you want to learn more about Bitcoin, you can visit its main page linked above.