Dormancy Flow

Dormancy relative to its yearly average — above 1 means old coins moving more than usual

Property	Value
Category	Coin Days
Unit	Dimensionless
Resolution	1d
Assets	BTC
Tier	Pro
API Endpoint	GET /v1/coindays
Field	dormancy_flow

Overview

Dormancy Flow normalizes daily Dormancy against its trailing 365-day moving average, creating a dimensionless oscillator that measures whether old coins are moving more or less than their recent trend. A Dormancy Flow of 1.0 means today's average spent-coin age is exactly at its yearly norm; above 1.0 means older-than-usual coins are moving; below 1.0 means younger-than-usual coins dominate.

This normalization is critical because raw Dormancy values are not directly comparable across different market epochs — as Bitcoin matures, the baseline age of the UTXO set naturally increases. Dormancy Flow adjusts for this secular trend, making signals comparable across cycles.

Formula

$$\text{Dormancy Flow}_t = \frac{\text{Dormancy}_t}{\text{MA}_{365}(\text{Dormancy})_t}$$

Where:

• $\text{Dormancy}_t$ is the average age of coins spent on day $t$
• $\text{MA}_{365}(\text{Dormancy})_t$ is the trailing 365-day moving average of Dormancy (excluding current day)

Interpretation

• Dormancy Flow > 1: Older-than-average coins are moving — potential distribution signal. The higher above 1, the more abnormal the old-coin movement
• Dormancy Flow < 1: Younger-than-average coins are moving — the norm during accumulation phases and healthy markets
• Dormancy Flow > 2-3: Extreme whale activity or institutional movement — very old coins are suddenly active. Historically rare and significant
• Sustained Dormancy Flow > 1: A persistent regime of old-coin spending, not just a single-day spike. Stronger distribution signal than isolated spikes
• Dormancy Flow trend: A rising trend from low levels toward 1.0 can indicate early distribution — long-term holders beginning to take profits before the mainstream notices

Use Cases

• Regime oscillator: Use 1.0 as the dividing line between accumulation (<1) and distribution (>1) regimes
• Distribution early warning: Watch for Dormancy Flow trending upward from 0.5 toward 1.0+ during bull markets — early signal that smart money is rotating out
• Capitulation filter: Extreme Dormancy Flow spikes (>3-5) during crashes help confirm capitulation events where long-term holders are force-liquidated
• Cross-cycle comparison: Unlike raw Dormancy, Dormancy Flow is normalized, making it possible to compare signals from 2013, 2017, 2021, and 2025 on equal footing

API Usage

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.blocklens.co/v1/coindays?start_date=2024-01-01&end_date=2024-12-31&limit=365"

Related Metrics

• Dormancy — Average lifespan of spent coins in days — high dormancy means old coins are moving
• Transfer Volume — Daily on-chain BTC transfer volume derived from UTXO spending activity
• Coin Days Destroyed — Sum of coin age × amount for all spent UTXOs per day — a fundamental measure of on-chain economic activity
• Binary CDD — Binary signal for above-average coin-day destruction — filters noise from raw CDD