Realized Price
What did people actually pay for their Bitcoin?
Every Bitcoin on the blockchain has a record of the price it last changed hands at. Read more
Bitcoin is trading above all three cost bases — every group of holders is in profit. This is a healthy setup. The nearest floor is at $78,978 where recent buyers would break even, then $43,250 for all holders, and the deepest floor at $48,035 for patient holders. As long as this order holds, the market structure is sound.
Over the past 6 months, Bitcoin's distance above the all-holders cost shrank from 148% to 60% — the profit cushion is thinning. Meanwhile, recent buyers went from +12% to -24% — their pain has deepened.
Think of realized price as Bitcoin's strongest safety net. It represents the price where the average person breaks even. When Bitcoin's price drops toward this number, history shows that selling almost completely dries up — people would rather hold at breakeven than lock in a loss. That's why every major Bitcoin bottom has happened near this line.
The same principle works in reverse for recent buyers. When they're underwater, they create a wall of selling pressure above the current price — everyone wants to escape at breakeven. That's why the recent buyers' average cost often acts as a ceiling during pullbacks.
There's a useful pecking order: in a healthy bull market, price sits above all three levels. When it drops below the recent buyers' average — like right now — it's the first sign of stress. If it drops below the all-holders average, that's serious trouble. If it threatens the long-term holders' average, that's historically been the absolute bottom.
Understanding Realized Price
Every Bitcoin on the blockchain has a record of the price it last changed hands at. Average all of those purchase prices together, weighted by how much Bitcoin is at each price, and you get the network-wide average buy price. It's not a model or prediction — it's measured directly from the blockchain.
There are three versions: All Holders gives you the broadest view — everyone's average. Long-Term Holders filters to people who've held for more than 5 months without selling — they're the most patient, least likely to panic. Recent Buyers shows what the newest wave of people paid — they're the most sensitive to price drops. Each group tells a different part of the story.
Think of realized price as Bitcoin's strongest safety net. When Bitcoin's price drops toward this number, selling almost completely dries up — people would rather hold at breakeven than lock in a loss. That's why every major Bitcoin bottom has happened near this line. The same principle works in reverse for recent buyers: when they're underwater, they create a wall of selling pressure above the current price.
There's a useful pecking order: in a healthy bull market, price sits above all three levels. When it drops below the recent buyers' average, it's the first sign of stress. If it drops below the all-holders average, that's serious trouble. If it threatens the long-term holders' average, that's historically been the absolute bottom.
As coins change hands at higher prices, the average buy price slowly climbs. This creates a rising floor under Bitcoin's price that reflects its growing maturity. Each cycle, the bottom has held above the previous cycle's realized price — showing that Bitcoin keeps building on a higher and higher foundation.