Migration tracks movement rather than position. It separates the bands taking cost basis on from the bands letting it go, and what those two come to when set against each other is the reading.

The distribution is a photograph; this is what changed between one and the next. A band can be enormous and utterly still, or small and churning constantly, and nothing but a comparison tells those two apart.

What it actually measures

A diagonal streak is cost basis keeping pace with price. Coin that trades during a trend vacates its old band and turns up wherever spot has reached by then, and the result slopes instead of sitting flat.

The comparison window decides the sensitivity of every cell. Set it short and recent churn dominates, so the picture flickers; set it long and nothing registers until a whole group has properly moved house.

Neither window length is correct. Comparing a short reading against a long one is usually more informative than either, because the disagreement between them says how recent the movement is, and agreement between them says it has been under way for a while.

A static band and a busy one look identical in a snapshot

The distribution draws a band the same way whether its coins have sat untouched for years or have been traded through repeatedly. Both produce the same bar at the same price.

Those are entirely different situations. One is settled supply and the other is a level people keep passing through, and telling them apart requires comparing two moments rather than examining one.

What it does not tell you

A band losing supply tells you the coins went somewhere, and most of the time that means a trade. It is not the only way, though: consolidation and custody shuffles leave the same mark, so one band on its own evidences activity and nothing stronger.

The reading depends entirely on a control. Change the comparison window and every cell changes with it, so the picture is as much about the setting as about the market.

It cannot say where supply went. A band releasing coins and another absorbing them are shown separately, and nothing links a departure to an arrival.

How to read it

Broad accumulation. Cost basis is arriving across the distribution far faster than it is being abandoned.

Net accumulation. New cost basis is arriving faster than old cost basis is leaving.

Net distribution. Old cost basis is being given up faster than new cost basis is set.

Broad distribution. Supply is leaving its cost bases right across the distribution.

Supply Migration runs on the URPD dashboard next to Air Above, Profit / Loss and Holder Age.

Common questions

How is this different from the distribution?

One is a photograph, the other is what changed between two photographs. A band can be huge and inert or small and frantic, and only setting two dates side by side tells them apart.

What is a slanted trail showing?

Cost basis keeping pace with price. Coin traded during a trend vacates its old band and turns up wherever spot has got to, which draws a slope rather than a flat line.

What does the window setting decide?

Because it sets how sensitive every cell is. A short one catches this week’s turnover and flickers; a long one only moves once a whole group has genuinely relocated somewhere else.

Does a shrinking band mean someone sold?

It means the coins went somewhere, which is most often a trade. Consolidation and custody shuffles leave an identical mark though, so a single band evidences activity and not confirmed selling.

Can supply be traced from one band to another?

No. Arrivals and departures are shown separately and nothing connects a specific departure to a specific arrival, so the reading is about balance rather than about routes.