On-chain analytics firm Glassnode has revealed how the latest Ethereum cycle never reached a profitability threshold cleared in previous bull runs.
Ethereum Has Seen Its Profitability Profile Compress This Cycle
In a new post on X, Glassnode has talked about how the share of supply carrying a gain of more than 300% is currently looking on the Ethereum blockchain. Below is the chart shared by the analytics firm that shows the trend in this metric.
The value of the indicator seems to have gone down over the last few years | Source: Glassnode on X
From the graph, it’s visible that the Ethereum supply sitting at a 3x profit has declined recently and hit the 11% mark. This suggests that just over a tenth of the cryptocurrency’s supply in circulation is in a significant gain at the current spot price.
The reason behind this supply being at a low level is naturally in part due to the bearish market conditions. It alone, however, can’t explain just how low the indicator is. It’s apparent in the chart that the last time that the network saw this supply occupy a lower share was all the way back in February 2017. Both the 2019 and 2022 bear markets never saw profitability this bad.
In fact, bear market levels isn’t all that has differed in the current cycle. In the previous two cycles, the 3x profit supply crossed the 50% level during the bullish phase. This cycle never saw the metric break the 30% mark, let alone approach the 50% threshold. “ETH’s profitability profile has fundamentally compressed relative to prior cycles,” noted Glassnode.
In related news, Ethereum and other assets have faced a steep drawdown recently that has had a notable effect on short-term investor profitability. On-chain analytics firm Santiment has shared in an X post the data related to how the various top coins have compared in terms of this.
The metric cited by Santiment is the Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) Ratio, which is a popular indicator for gauging the profit-loss status of holders as a whole. Here, the analytics firm has specifically used the version of the MVRV Ratio tracking the profitability of buyers from the last 30 days.
The trend in the 30-day MVRV Ratio for BTC, ETH, ADA, XRP, and LINK | Source: Santiment on X
As displayed in the above chart, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and other assets saw the 30-day MVRV Ratio plummet to a deep value as the market crash played out. With the rebound that has followed since then, however, the situation has improved a bit for buyers from the past month.
That said, losses continue to be significant for this group. The 30-day MVRV Ratio is currently sitting at -10% for BTC and -12% for ETH. The analytics firm explained:
When the average trader is sitting on significant losses across networks that are normally hovering at 0% (zero sum game), selling pressure often becomes exhausted as weak hands capitulate and long-term investors begin accumulating.
ETH Price
Ethereum had fallen near the $1,500 level during the weekend, but the coin has since bounced back as its value is now sitting around $1,680.
Looks like the price of the coin has bounced back a bit | Source: ETHUSDT on TradingView
