MVRV

What is MVRV?

MVRV (Market Value to Realized Value) is an on-chain valuation ratio: a crypto asset's market capitalization divided by its realized capitalization. Realized cap reprices every coin at the value it held when it last moved on-chain, which makes it a rough aggregate cost basis for current holders. So MVRV above 1 means the average coin sits at an unrealized profit; below 1, at an unrealized loss. The ratio was introduced in 2018 by analysts Murad Mahmudov and David Puell, building on the realized-cap metric developed by researchers at Coin Metrics.

Unrealized profit is what tempts holders to sell, which is why MVRV extremes have historically clustered near cycle turning points: stretched readings near euphoric tops, sub-1 readings during capitulation. A common refinement is the MVRV Z-score, which divides the gap between market cap and realized cap by the standard deviation of market cap to make readings comparable across cycles. The evidence base is only a handful of completed cycles, so historical bands are observations, not guarantees.

How traders use it

• As a cycle-level valuation gauge: high MVRV flags a market where the average holder carries large unrealized gains and distribution risk rises, while readings below 1 have marked late bear markets. Both extremes can persist for months.
• In standardized form: the MVRV Z-score or a percentile rank of MVRV compensates for drift in raw thresholds as the asset matures, since each cycle's extremes have not repeated at identical levels.
• Cross-checked against complementary on-chain measures such as SOPR, which tracks realized rather than unrealized profit, and broader crypto cycle models, since no single on-chain ratio times turns reliably.