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Realized Capitalization (Realized Cap)

Realized capitalization is calculated by taking every coin in circulation and valuing it at the price it was last transacted on-chain, then summing the results — rather than multiplying total supply by the current market price, as standard market cap does. A coin that has not moved since it last traded at $10,000 is counted at $10,000 in realized cap, even if the current price is $60,000.

Because it weights each coin by its last-moved price instead of the current price, realized cap is read as a rough proxy for the aggregate cost basis of the network's supply — an estimate of what holders have collectively paid, on average, for the coins they hold. Coins that shift between wallets without changing hands economically, such as exchange-to-exchange transfers, can still affect the figure, since the metric tracks on-chain movement rather than verified ownership change.

Realized cap is rarely used on its own; it is the base input for several other on-chain valuation metrics, including MVRV, the MVRV Z-Score, and NUPL, all of which compare market cap against this realized-cost baseline rather than against price alone.