Bitcoin NVT Ratio
NVT (Network Value to Transactions) divides Bitcoin's market value by the daily economic transaction volume the network actually settles. The comparison to a stock's P/E ratio comes from the question it asks: how richly is the market pricing the network relative to the usage it carries? It does not point at a direction for price - it ties valuation back to on-chain activity, which makes it a context indicator rather than a buy or sell signal on its own.
This chart shows real data up to September 27, 2026. The live value is free on Cedvel - no subscription needed.
Source: nvt (bitview.space / Bitcoin Research Kit)
What is it?
Network Value to Transactions Ratio - often described as Bitcoin's 'P/E ratio' analog: it measures how 'expensive' the market value is relative to the economic transaction volume carried on-chain.
How is it calculated?
NVT = Market Value / Daily On-Chain Transaction Volume (USD). A high NVT means the price is high relative to the economic value being transferred (potential overvaluation or a speculative phase).
How to read it
A low NVT points to price being reasonable/cheap relative to the real economic value the network carries; a high NVT points to price potentially having decoupled from usage value.
Things to watch out for
As layer-2 solutions like the Lightning Network move transactions off the main chain, main-chain transaction volume increasingly under-represents 'real' economic activity - this structural shift should be kept in mind when interpreting the metric.
Historical usage
There is no published, sourceable threshold for a 'high' or 'low' NVT, so Cedvel shows no band or regime badge on this series. In practice the indicator is read against its own multi-year history rather than as an absolute number: stretches where the ratio sits well above its own average line up with periods where price decoupled from on-chain activity, and stretches below it with periods where activity stayed strong relative to price. The series reaches back to 2009, so its behaviour across several complete market cycles is visible on the chart.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Bitcoin's NVT ratio mean?
It is market value divided by the economic transaction volume settled on-chain that day. A high NVT means price is elevated relative to the value being moved; a low NVT means price is more restrained relative to network usage.
Is NVT really Bitcoin's P/E ratio?
The analogy comes from the structure - both divide a valuation by a flow. But a P/E denominator is earnings, while NVT's denominator is transaction volume, which is not a measure of profit and can include non-economic movement such as exchange-internal transfers or wallet consolidation. The analogy is an intuition aid, not an exact equivalence.
Is a high NVT a sell signal?
No. A high NVT only says price is elevated relative to on-chain activity - that can happen because activity fell just as easily as because price rose. For a meaningful reading it is weighed alongside cost-basis indicators such as MVRV Z-Score and NUPL.
Does the Lightning Network distort NVT?
It affects it structurally. As layer-2 systems such as Lightning move payments off the base chain, main-chain volume represents less and less of total economic activity, and NVT drifts structurally higher. For that reason today's NVT level should not be compared one-for-one against the same level in 2015.