Analysis: Altcoin Investors Reach Break-Even, Broadening Selling Pressure

Investor sentiment across the altcoin market has recovered to the break-even level, but strong selling pressure is emerging at the same time, according to an analysis.

An X post from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode on May 18 said the median Spent Output Profit Ratio, or SOPR, for the top 500 altcoins by market value recently reached 1. That is the highest level since Bitcoin traded near its all-time high.

SOPR is an on-chain metric that shows whether investors are selling coins at a profit or a loss. A reading of 1 generally means coins are being sold, on average, at break-even.

Glassnode wrote that altcoin investors had been consistently realizing losses since late 2024. Once SOPR recently returned to break-even, strong selling pressure appeared across the market.

The market is also seeing investors who had been sitting on losses for an extended period sell after getting back to cost, limiting upside momentum in altcoins. More broadly, risk appetite has weakened as Bitcoin softens and geopolitical risks in the Middle East combine with macroeconomic uncertainty.