On-chain analytics firm Glassnode has revealed how the typical altcoin investor has generally been realizing losses since late 2024.
Median SOPR In The Altcoin Sector Has Been Stuck Below 1
In a new post on X, Glassnode has talked about the latest trend in the median SOPR for the altcoin market. The “SOPR,” which stands for Spent Output Profit Ratio, here refers to a popular on-chain indicator that tells us whether traders on a given network are transferring their coins at a net profit or loss.
When the value of the metric is greater than 1, it means profit-taking is the dominant mode of transactions. On the other hand, the indicator being under this threshold suggests investors are, on average, realizing a net loss with their selling. Naturally, the SOPR being exactly equal to 1 suggests the profits being realized on the network are exactly canceling out the losses. In other words, the holders as a whole can be considered to be just breaking even on their moves.
Now, here is the chart shared by Glassnode that shows the trend in the median SOPR for the top 500 assets in the cryptocurrency sector by market cap over the last couple of years:
Looks like the value of the metric has gone down in recent days | Source: Glassnode on X
As displayed in the above graph, the median SOPR of the top 500 digital assets rose to a value of 1 during the recent recovery surge in the sector. This suggests that altcoin investors as a whole rushed to use this opportunity to exit at their break-even level. Since this selling, however, markets have reversed course. In terms of weekly returns, Bitcoin is down more than 4%, while Ethereum is in a loss of 7%. Major altcoins like XRP and Solana have also taken a notable hit inside this window.
From the chart, it’s visible that loss realization in the sector has returned alongside the pullback. With another failure to find a break into the profit zone, the median SOPR for the top 500 coins is now extending its already-long stay inside the underwater region. During 2025, there were a couple of very brief surges above the 1 level for the metric, but the last time a proper break occurred was all the way back in late 2024. Thus, it would appear that the average altcoin trader has been in loss-realization mode for 1.5 years.
This loss-taking behavior among investors, interestingly, couldn’t change when Bitcoin and other assets observed a bull run last year. Considering this, it only remains to be seen what will need to happen to change the situation of the altcoin traders, if their situation will change at all.
ETH Price
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading around $2,100, down 0.2% over the last 24 hours.
The largest altcoin has been moving down recently | Source: ETHUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com
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