Cycle & value · 5 min read · Historical snapshot
Realized price: what did Bitcoin owners pay?
One-minute answer: Realized price values each bitcoin at the market price when that coin last moved, adds those values, then divides by the circulating supply. It is an estimated average cost base for the network.
What it actually means
The normal market price asks what one bitcoin trades for now. Realized price asks what the existing supply was worth at the moment each coin last moved. Old unmoved coins keep an old cost; recently moved coins take a recent cost.
When market price is above realized price, the average coin sits above its estimated cost. Below realized price, the average coin sits below it.
What to look for
- Price far above realized price — The network holds a large amount of estimated paper profit.
- Price near realized price — The market is trading near the network's estimated average cost base.
- Price below realized price — The average coin is underwater by this method.
- Realized price rising — Coins are moving at higher prices, lifting the network cost estimate.
Worked example
If Bitcoin trades at $90,000 and realized price is $45,000, the market price is twice the estimated network cost base. That does not mean every owner paid $45,000.
What this cannot tell you
- A wallet transfer is treated like a change of hands even when the same person owns both addresses.
- Lost coins remain in the supply and keep their old last-moved value.
- The current SafuTrading chart is a historical snapshot, so always read its last-data date.
Data source
Historical on-chain series; SafuTrading's Bitcoin node is rebuilding the value from transaction outputs across the blockchain.
Open Realized Price — Bitcoin's market price compared with the network's estimated last-moved cost base.