What on-chain stats say about Bitcoin’s (BTC) market reset.

New research shows that excessive leverage decreased in the fourth quarter as realized price metrics and profitability data point to a healthier Bitcoin structure.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading in a very tight range below $79,000 amid macroeconomic tailwinds. Most crypto assets followed a similar trajectory. But experts are constructive about BTC.

In a joint report from Coinbase and Glassnode, the companies say the largest cryptocurrency appears to be on firmer footing than many altcoins that are still dealing with the fallout from last October’s sharp sell-off.

Bitcoin’s Healthier Start to 2026

Coinbase and Glassnode believe the crypto markets will enter 2026 in a healthier state after excess debt was largely flushed from the system in the fourth quarter. The two firms said this vision is reflected in various technical indicators on the chain. One of these, entity-adjusted Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL), revealed that investor sentiment fell from the ‘belief’ stage to ‘fear’ after the October sell-off and remained there throughout the quarter.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s realized price has continued to rise through early 2026. This shows that the overall cost base of the market is increasing over time. Bitcoin’s spot price remains above this realized price, meaning the average holder is still making a profit rather than a loss.

The market value to realized value ratio (MVRV), which compares the current market price to the realized price, is around 1.5. This indicates that the crypto asset is trading at a premium of approximately 50% to its on-chain cost basis.

Signals on the chain

During the fourth quarter of 2025, the share of BTC supply in profits fell sharply. The report explained that this decline indicates that prices between $80,000 and $85,000 may have served as an accumulation zone for model-based strategies. The report also highlighted changes in dormant and active supply.

Bitcoin supply that had been moving over the past three months rose 37% in the fourth quarter, while the share of supply that had not moved for more than a year fell 2%. This change indicates that the market may have entered a phase of rapid distribution during that period.

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There has also been a decline in the Puell Multiple, which fell to 0.9 in the fourth quarter. This indicates that miners earned about 10% less than the previous year’s average.

Moreover, net long-term holding positions and changes in currency balances together indicated profit-taking between July and September. But similar behavior was not clearly observed in the fourth quarter of 2025.