Coin Days Destroyed (CDD)
Sum of coin-age destroyed when coins move. A spike means old coins are waking up - historically significant at cycle turning points.
What is it?
CDD (Coin Days Destroyed) is calculated by multiplying the BTC amount of each spent UTXO by the number of days since it was last moved. A coin held 200 days then spent generates 200 coin-days of destruction. This time-weighting distinguishes long-dormant coin movements from daily rotation of recent coins, offering a qualitative activity measure rather than purely volumetric. Introduced by Tamas Blummer, CDD captures the 'time-weight' of capital in motion.
How to read
View CDD as a 30-day or 90-day moving average to filter daily noise. CDD spikes mark the awakening of old coins - potentially LTH distributing (if price is rising) or capitulating (if price is falling). Low, stable CDD indicates old holders remain inactive, a sign of conviction.
Key zones
There are no universal absolute thresholds as CDD evolves with the network's overall age. CDD exceeding its 90-day MA by 3x+ has historically been a notable event. CDD consistently low relative to its average indicates an accumulation phase or stagnation of old coins.
What to observe
Watch for sustained CDD elevation during a rally - it indicates old holders are participating in distribution. Conversely, a CDD spike during a price decline marks potential capitulation. CDD/price divergence (rising CDD with stable price) may reveal strategic whale repositioning.
Historical context
CDD spiked dramatically at the 2017 and 2021 peaks as coins dormant for years entered circulation. The 2022 capitulation showed moderate CDD, suggesting LTH did not panic-sell en masse. The 2024 halving was preceded by a phase of relatively low CDD, indicating strong HODLing behaviour.
Expert notes
Raw CDD is influenced by circulating supply growth: more coins and older coins mechanically increase baseline CDD. Supply-Adjusted CDD corrects this bias. Our implementation reconstructs daily CDD from network Liveliness: daily_CDD = Δ(Liveliness × cumsum(Supply)). This reconstruction is mathematically equivalent because Liveliness = cumulative_CDD_destroyed / cumulative_CDD_created, and provides complete history (~6300 days) since genesis.
Common mistakes to avoid
High CDD does not automatically mean selling. A whale reorganising wallets generates enormous CDD without intent to sell. CDD is a movement indication, not a sales indication - price context and SOPR readings are essential to distinguish distribution from simple reorganisation.
Programmatic access
REST API
curl -sS \
'https://api.trinityinsights.io/api/v1/onchain/cdd/history?days=90' \
-H 'X-API-Key: $TRINITY_API_KEY'MCP server
{
"tool": "get_chart_value",
"metric_id": "cdd",
"timeframe": "1y"
}Required tier: free. See the pricing grid for the tier list and the MCP documentation for multi-client configuration.
Related metrics
Institutional disclaimer
Trinity Insights is an educational and analytical tool. The metric above does not constitute investment advice. Trinity Insights is not a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) registered under MiCA Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. See the full disclaimer.