In plain English
Two sibling valuation gauges. MVRV asks whether the market is pricing coins above or below the crowd’s on-chain cost basis. NUPL asks what share of the market cap is paper profit (or paper loss).
When both are low, the typical holder is miserable. When both are high, paper gains are huge. They often rhyme, but they are not the same number.
Math and metrics
Coin Metrics Community. Dual oscillators, no extra blend on this plate (see MVRV–NUPL Composite for the ranked mix).
MVRV = marketCap / realizedCap ≡ spot / realizedPrice.
NUPL = (marketCap − realizedCap) / marketCap = 1 − 1/MVRV.
Historical clusters: MVRV<1 and NUPL near 0 or negative nearer to cycle lows; MVRV>3.5 and high NUPL nearer to heat. Clusters, not barriers.