Ethereum, often called the “king of altcoins,” hasn’t been performing as well as other major cryptocurrencies lately. This underperformance has left many ETH holders underwater. Let’s look at what the data is showing.
How Much ETH is Making Money?
Recently, on-chain analytics firm Santiment reported that a growing number of Ethereum tokens are currently trading below their purchase price. They track two key metrics:
- Supply in Profit: This adds up all ETH tokens last moved when their price was lower than the current price.
- Percent of Total Supply in Profit: This shows the percentage of the total ETH supply currently held at a profit. It’s basically the “Supply in Profit” divided by the total circulating supply.
The Numbers Tell a Story
Santiment’s data reveals some worrying trends:
- Falling Supply in Profit: The amount of profitable ETH has dropped to around 97.7 million, the lowest since November 4, 2024.
- Shrinking Percentage in Profit:
Only 65.5% of the total ETH supply is currently in profit – the lowest since October 2, 2024, down significantly from 97.5% in early December. This means a large portion of ETH holders are currently losing money.
This downturn is largely due to Ethereum’s price slumping by about 36% from its December high of $4,016. Santiment suggests that the negative sentiment surrounding Ethereum, coupled with retail investors selling off, might lead to some surprising price increases once the market stabilizes.
What Does This Mean?
Fewer tokens in profit often means that the market is dominated by long-term holders who are less likely to panic sell. The exit of many short-term investors (those who bought high and sold low) could reduce downward pressure on the price, potentially setting the stage for a price recovery.
Current Ethereum Price
At the time of writing, ETH is trading slightly above $2,600, showing a small increase of over 2% in the last 24 hours.
