MVRV Ratio

The MVRV Ratio (Market Value to Realized Value) is an on-chain indicator defined as market capitalization divided by realized capitalization. Introduced by Murad Mahmudov and David Puell, it compares what the supply is currently worth at spot price against the aggregate cost basis captured by Realized Cap. The result is a dimensionless number that approximates the average unrealized profit or loss held across all coins in circulation.

How to read the value

An MVRV of 1 means the market price equals the average cost basis, so the supply on aggregate is roughly at breakeven. Values above 1 indicate the average coin is held at an unrealized gain; values below 1 indicate the average coin is underwater. Historically, sustained high readings have coincided with market euphoria and elevated prices, while low readings have aligned with deeply discounted conditions, though past patterns are not guarantees of future behavior.

Variants

A common refinement is the MVRV Z-Score, which normalizes the gap between market cap and realized cap by its standard deviation to dampen volatility and make extremes more comparable across cycles. MVRV is also segmented by holder cohort to compare long-term and short-term participants.

This metric is educational and not trading advice. It is built directly from Realized Cap and is closely related to Realized Price; both rely on the underlying UTXO set.