Ethereum’s latest market cycle never reached the profit levels seen in prior bull runs, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode says — and the data suggests the network’s profitability profile has materially compressed.
What Glassnode found
- Glassnode looked at the share of Ethereum supply that is sitting on gains of more than 300% (a “3x profit”).
- That metric recently fell to about 11% — meaning only roughly one in nine ETH in circulation is currently up at least 300% at today’s spot price.
- That level is the lowest since February 2017. Neither the 2019 nor the 2022 bear markets produced profitability this weak.
- In earlier cycles, the proportion of supply at 3x profit climbed above 50% during bullish phases; this cycle never broke the 30% mark.
- “ETH’s profitability profile has fundamentally compressed relative to prior cycles,” Glassnode summarized.
What it means: fewer addresses are sitting on outsized unrealized gains this cycle, which reflects a structurally different distribution of holders and returns compared with past rallies.
Short-term buyer pain across markets
On-chain analytics firm Santiment added that short-term buyer profitability also took a hit in the recent crash. Using the 30-day Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) ratio — a common gauge of whether recent buyers are in profit or loss — Santiment showed the indicator plunged during the downturn.
Current 30-day MVRV readings:
- Bitcoin: about -10%
- Ethereum: about -12%
Santiment notes that when the “average trader” is sitting on notable losses (the 30-day MVRV normally hovers near 0% over short windows), selling pressure can exhaust itself as weak hands capitulate and longer-term holders start accumulating.
Price action
Ethereum briefly dipped toward $1,500 over the weekend before recovering; it was trading near $1,680 at the time of the reports.
Bottom line
On-chain metrics from Glassnode and Santiment paint a picture of compressed, weaker-than-usual profitability for ETH holders this cycle and continued losses among recent buyers — a dynamic that can influence both selling pressure and the pace of subsequent recoveries.
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