Bitcoin Hits Highest "Realized" Price in History

Bitcoin’s “realized” price today hit an all-time high, while Ethereum’s “realized” price hit a 22-month high.

Bitcoin’s “realized” price hit an ATH of $6,903, as per calculations from Glassnode, a crypto analytics firm. Bitcoin's previous ATH “realized” price was in early August when it hit $6,000 as the supply became more evenly distributed among the holders.

Glassnode also reports Ethereum’s “realized” price hit a 22-month high of $257, up from $257 recorded on 14 November 2020.

Meanwhile, the “current” price of Bitcoin today reached $16,000, an increase of 1.26% over the last 24 hours. Ethereum's price barely moved; its price is currently $456, an 0.06% increase in the same time period.

“Realized” price, distinct from the “current” price, derives from the alternative metric of “realized capitalization”, originally proposed by Coin Metrics, a crypto data firm. 

Realized capitalization calculates the total value of the Bitcoin network, taking into account the multiplied sum of all Bitcoin by the last recorded time of trade. The idea is to exclude from this calculation all of the Bitcoin that's collecting dust in long-abandoned wallets.

The time-sensitive aspect of realized capitalization is meant to provide a more reliable picture of the overall network by discounting out-of-circulation Bitcoins.

Coinciding with the record highs is a development in Bitcoin Cash (BCH), the sixth largest cryptocurrency by (actual) market cap. The Bitcoin Cash blockchain underwent a highly controversial hard fork today. 

The hard fork remains largely unpopular among the users of Bitcoin Cash due to contentious plans to levy an 8% “tax” on miner profits, a move decried by opponents as antithetical to the community’s decentralized ethos. 

In the immediate aftermath of the hard fork, Bitcoin Cash’s price went down from $255 to $240, a 5% decrease in the past 24 hours.