HODL Waves

Bitcoin HODL Waves group every unit of supply into age bands based on the last time each UTXO moved on-chain, then plot those bands as stacked ribbons over time. This chart offers two views of the same age distribution: a normal version, where each band shows the percentage of circulating supply held for that duration, and a realized-capitalization version, where each band is weighted by the price at which its coins last moved. The realized-cap view reveals not just how much supply sits in each holding period but where the economic value of the network is actually concentrated.

Read the chart from bottom to top by holding period, with the youngest coins forming the lower bands and the oldest, longest-held supply toward the top. When young-age bands swell, recently moved coins dominate, a sign of active trading or distribution. When the older bands thicken, supply is maturing in the hands of long-term holders. Switching to the realized-cap version reweights each ribbon by cost basis, so a thin band of recently transacted coins can carry outsized value while dormant older supply may represent less realized capital than its share of coins suggests.

Use HODL Waves to gauge where Bitcoin sits in its holding cycle: expanding old-coin bands typically accompany accumulation phases, while a rapid shift of value into young bands often coincides with heavy on-chain activity near market extremes.

Check the selected asset, units, and cohort before comparing readings. Compare the metric over consistent dates and use related measures to understand what contributes to a change.