NUPL Framework

SQL of the Week 013

NUPL Framework

What Is It

NUPL (Net Unrealized Profit/Loss) is a classic on-chain metric showing the share of “paper” profit or loss relative to market capitalization.

It is a sentiment gauge for the entire network. While MVRV shows “how many times the price exceeds the average cost basis,” NUPL shows “what share of market cap is unrealized profit.”

Key property: NUPL is normalized from -1 to +1, making it convenient for comparing different cycles.

Formula

NUPL = (Market Cap - Realized Cap) / Market Cap

Or equivalently:

NUPL = 1 - (1 / MVRV)

Interpretation:

• NUPL = 0.5 means 50% of market cap = unrealized profit

• NUPL = 0 means market cap = realized cap (breakeven)

• NUPL = -0.2 means 20% of market cap = unrealized loss

Classic Zones