SOPR Explained: What It Tells You About Crypto Market Sentiment

When you hear SOPR, the Spent Output Profit Ratio, a metric that measures whether Bitcoin or other crypto coins are being sold at a profit or loss. Also known as Spent Output Profit Ratio, it tells you if people are cashing out after making money—or dumping coins they bought at a loss. This isn’t just a number. It’s a real-time heartbeat of the market’s mood.

SOPR works by comparing the price when a coin was last moved to the price when it’s spent today. If the number is above 1, holders are selling for a profit. If it’s below 1, they’re selling at a loss. Simple. No guesswork. When SOPR spikes past 1.5, it often means retail traders are panicking and selling their gains—classic market top behavior. When it drops below 0.8, it usually means people are stuck with coins they bought at higher prices and are forced to sell at a loss. That’s often when smart money starts buying. It’s not magic, but it’s one of the clearest signals you’ll find in on-chain data.

SOPR doesn’t work alone. It pairs with other on-chain metrics like on-chain analysis, the practice of tracking blockchain transactions to understand real user behavior, not just price charts, and tools like Glassnode, a platform that turns raw blockchain data into actionable insights for crypto investors. You’ll see SOPR in posts about whale movements, exchange outflows, and market cycles—because it’s one of the few metrics that cuts through noise and shows what actual holders are doing. If you’re trying to decide whether to hold, sell, or buy, SOPR gives you a snapshot of the crowd’s emotional state.

What you’ll find in the posts below isn’t theory. It’s real examples: how SOPR spiked before the 2021 Bitcoin peak, how it dipped below 0.7 during the 2022 crash, and how traders used it to avoid selling into a bottom. You’ll also see how people mix SOPR with other tools like Nansen and CoinMetrics to spot trends early. No fluff. No hype. Just how the numbers work—and how to use them to make smarter calls in a noisy market.