Bitcoin Sell-Side Risk Ratio Falls To Lowest Since Oct ’23: What It Means

bitcoinistPublished on 2026-01-14Last updated on 2026-01-14

Abstract

Bitcoin's Sell-Side Risk Ratio has recently plummeted to its lowest level since October 2023, indicating subdued investor conviction behind selling at current price levels. This on-chain metric, which measures the ratio of realized profits and losses against Bitcoin's Realized Cap, had spiked during November's price crash but has since declined sharply. The drop suggests reduced market activity and lower volatility. Additionally, retail investor demand remains weak, with a key metric tracking small transactions staying negative despite recent price gains. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $94,300, up over 3% in 24 hours.

On-chain data shows the Bitcoin Sell-Side Risk Ratio has plummeted recently. Here’s what this could suggest for the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Sell-Side Risk Ratio Has Fallen To Multi-Year Lows

In a new post on X, Glassnode analyst Chris Beamish has talked about the latest trend in the Bitcoin Sell-Side Risk Ratio, an on-chain indicator that keeps track of the ratio between the sum of all profits and losses realized on the network and the cryptocurrency’s Realized Cap.

The Realized Cap here refers to a capitalization model that calculates BTC’s total value by assuming that the value of each coin in circulation is equal to the price at which it was last transacted on the blockchain.

The last transfer price of any token is likely to represent its cost basis, so the Realized Cap measures the sum of the cost bases of the total BTC supply. In other words, it represents the total amount of capital that the investors have put into the cryptocurrency.

As such, the Sell-Side Risk Ratio tells us about how the amount of profit and loss that Bitcoin investors are realizing compares against the total capital stored in the asset.

Now, here is the chart for the indicator shared by Beamish that shows how its value has changed over the last few years:

The value of the metric seems to have plummeted in recent weeks | Source: @ChrisBeamish_ on X

As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Sell-Side Risk Ratio shot up to a notable value with the price crash in November. This suggests that investors took a large amount of profit and loss alongside the volatility.

Since this high, the indicator’s value has seen a steep drop and has returned to the lowest level since October 2023. The analyst has noted that this points to “subdued conviction behind distribution at current price levels.”

Typically, market volatility tends to be low when these conditions form, so it only remains to be seen how the price of the cryptocurrency will develop in the near future.

In some other news, demand from the Bitcoin retail investors has been missing recently, as CryptoQuant author IT Tech has pointed out in an X post. The indicator cited by IT Tech is the 30-day change in the Retail Investor Demand, measuring the percentage change in the volume associated with the small hands (transactions valued at less than $10,000).

Looks like the value of the indicator has been negative recently | Source: @IT_Tech_PL on X

As is visible in the chart, the 30-day change in the Bitcoin Retail Investor Demand has been declining inside the negative zone recently, implying that the activity of the retail entities has been going down. The indicator’s trend hasn’t changed even after the recent recovery surge.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $94,300, up more than 3% over the last 24 hours.

The trend in the price of the coin over the last month | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Related Questions

QWhat is the Bitcoin Sell-Side Risk Ratio and what does it measure?

AThe Bitcoin Sell-Side Risk Ratio is an on-chain indicator that tracks the ratio between the sum of all profits and losses realized on the network and Bitcoin's Realized Cap. It measures how the amount of profit and loss that Bitcoin investors are realizing compares against the total capital stored in the asset.

QWhat does the recent drop in Bitcoin Sell-Side Risk Ratio to October 2023 lows indicate?

AThe recent drop in the Bitcoin Sell-Side Risk Ratio to the lowest level since October 2023 indicates 'subdued conviction behind distribution at current price levels,' suggesting reduced selling pressure and typically low market volatility during such conditions.

QWhat is Bitcoin's Realized Cap and how is it calculated?

ABitcoin's Realized Cap is a capitalization model that calculates BTC's total value by assuming that the value of each coin in circulation is equal to the price at which it was last transacted on the blockchain. It represents the sum of the cost bases of the total BTC supply, measuring the total amount of capital investors have put into the cryptocurrency.

QWhat does the trend in Bitcoin Retail Investor Demand indicate according to the article?

AAccording to the article, the 30-day change in Bitcoin Retail Investor Demand has been declining in the negative zone recently, indicating that retail investor activity (transactions valued at less than $10,000) has been decreasing, and this trend hasn't changed even after the recent price surge.

QWhat was Bitcoin's price at the time of writing and how much had it increased?

AAt the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading around $94,300, up more than 3% over the last 24 hours.

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