Investor Cap
Value paid by investors (excluding miners) for their Bitcoin holdings — the aggregate cost basis of all non-miner participants in the network
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Category | Valuation Metrics |
| Unit | USD |
| Resolution | 1d |
| Assets | BTC |
| Tier | Basic |
| API Endpoint | GET /v1/holder/valuation |
| Field | investor_cap |
Overview
Investor Cap isolates the aggregate cost basis of non-miner Bitcoin holders by subtracting miner revenue (Thermo Cap) from the total realized value (Realized Cap). It represents what investors — as opposed to miners — collectively paid for their Bitcoin.
Miners receive coins for free (as block rewards), so their cost basis is zero in BTC terms. By removing miner revenue from Realized Cap, Investor Cap reveals the true capital invested by market participants who purchased Bitcoin.
Formula
Where:
- = sum of all UTXOs valued at price when last moved
- = cumulative miner revenue at issuance price
Interpretation
- Rising Investor Cap indicates growing aggregate cost basis — more capital entering the network
- Falling Investor Cap can occur during capitulation events when coins move at lower prices
- The gap between Market Cap and Investor Cap represents aggregate unrealized profit/loss for investors
Use Cases
- True investment measurement: Unlike Realized Cap, Investor Cap excludes miner 'free' coins for a cleaner view of actual capital inflows
- Investor Cap Price derivation: Dividing by circulating supply gives per-coin cost basis for investors
- Capitulation detection: Sharp drops indicate widespread selling below cost basis
- Market maturity tracking: As Investor Cap grows relative to Thermo Cap, the market matures from miner-dominated to investor-dominated
API Usage
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://api.blocklens.co/v1/holder/valuation?start_date=2024-01-01&end_date=2024-12-31&limit=365"
Related Metrics
- Thermo Cap — Cumulative miner revenue at time of issuance — measures the total cost basis of all mined Bitcoin valued at the price on their creation date
- Realized Cap — Sum of LTH + STH realized cap
- Investor Cap Price — Average price paid by investors (excluding miners) per Bitcoin — derived from Investor Cap divided by circulating supply
- MVRV — Ratio of market value to realized value across all holders