Bitcoin's 'Realized' Market Cap Hits All-Time High of $378 Billion

An alternative measure of Bitcoin’s market cap reached an all-time high.

By Ekin Genç

In brief

• Bitcoin has hit $378 billion in “realized market cap,” reaching an all-time high in the metric that measures how much “active” money is in the Bitcoin market.
• Bitcoin’s price tested $48,000 today before falling sharply to $46,700.

Bitcoin’s “realized” market capitalization reached an all-time high of $378 billion today, according to data from metrics site Glassnode.

Realized market cap measures the size of Bitcoin’s active market cap. The measurement ignores stashes of Bitcoin that haven’t changed hands for a long time, such as the dormant riches of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, whales, lost coins or long-time HODLers.

To calculate realized market cap, data metrics platforms like Glassnode assign time-sensitive values to coins. If a coin last moved in 2018, when the price of Bitcoin was $6,000, that coin is priced at $6,000 rather than today’s price.

The standard measurement of market capitalization is a multiplication of all the coins in circulation by the current price of the coin. Bitcoin’s total market cap is $880 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Realized market cap provides a clearer estimation of the size of the “active” Bitcoin market. That Bitcoin’s realized market cap hit its all-time high when Bitcoin’s price is still far from its peak of $64,800 suggests that there’s never been as much “active” money in Bitcoin.

The spike in realized market cap coincides with Bitcoin hitting $48,000, its highest price since the market crash that began in mid-May. Bitcoin has increased by 9.5% this week and 42.5% this month. Shortly after hitting $48,000, Bitcoin fell sharply to $46,700.

Another sign of the hubbub is Bitcoin’s latest mining difficulty adjustment. In its latest fortnightly change, the Bitcoin network made mining 7.3% more difficult yesterday to account for the increased competition among miners.

The adjustment was the second consecutive positive change after two months of drops; the drops followed a crackdown on Bitcoin mining in China, which also cut Bitcoin’s price in half. Today’s all-time high for Bitcoin’s realized market cap shows traders are clawing back their coin.

DISCLAIMER

THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DO NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, OR OTHER ADVICE.