Altcoin Retail Investors, 1 Year 5 Months of Losses... 'Bloody Tears' Even in a Bull Market

▲ Altcoins

On-chain data analytics firm Glassnode has released a shocking analysis indicating that altcoin investors have been incurring long-term losses and liquidating their holdings since late 2024.

According to crypto media outlet Cointelegraph on May 20 (local time), Glassnode unveiled the trend of the median Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) in the altcoin market via its official X (formerly Twitter) account. SOPR is a representative on-chain metric that shows whether network participants sold their coins for a profit or a loss. If this indicator is greater than 1, it means that profit-taking is dominant across the market. Conversely, if it is less than 1, it indicates that investors are, on average, selling below their principal, incurring losses. If it reaches exactly 1, profits and losses are offset, meaning the entire market is breaking even.

According to the SOPR trend chart for the top 500 digital assets by market capitalization shared by Glassnode, the median value of the indicator rose to exactly 1 when the market recently showed a rebound. This suggests that altcoin investors massively sold off their holdings to exit at break-even as soon as prices rose slightly. Immediately after this surge of break-even selling by investors, the market turned downward again. On a weekly return basis, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by more than 4%, and Ethereum recorded a 7% loss. Major altcoins such as XRP and Solana (SOL) also took significant hits in this downturn.

Looking at the chart, the phenomenon of loss-selling in the altcoin sector is intensifying again with the market correction. Failing once again to enter the profit zone, the median SOPR for the top 500 coins has further extended its already long stay in the negative territory. Although the indicator briefly rose above 1 a couple of times during 2025, the last time it genuinely broke into the profit zone dates all the way back to late 2024. In effect, average altcoin investors have been trapped in a state of continuously incurring losses and offloading their holdings for the past 1 year and 5 months.

This pattern of loss-selling is highly significant because it did not abate even when major assets, including Bitcoin, staged a bull market last year. A Bitcoinst article commented that with the altcoin market trapped in a prolonged bear swamp, market attention is focused on what kind of massive catalyst will be needed to stop this relentless loss-selling spree and turn the tide.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. This content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*