The Bitcoin (BTC) Dominance, or bitcoin’s share of the overall crypto market capitalization, has remained almost at the same level as four years ago, despite a massive proliferation of altcoins in the meantime.
Prominent Bitcoin and CTO of Bitcoin Wallet HouseJameson Lopp, pointed out that bitcoin’s dominance in April 2018 was 42%, with around 1,500 other cryptoassets – or altcoins – in existence at the time.
In April 2022, however, bitcoin had a dominance that had dropped slightly to 41%, with over 15,000 altcoins competing against it.
Lopp did not specify his source for the altcoin count. Meanwhile, on its website, the crypto market data provider CryptoMarketCap shows that there are nearly 19,000 “cryptos”, while CoinGecko gives a number closer to 14,000.
Either way, the stat could be taken as a testament to the resilience the number one cryptocurrency has managed to achieve against other cryptos over the past five years.
Domination of Bitcoin since 2018:
As several Lopp followers have pointed out, the price of bitcoin has also increased by around 350% over the same period, despite increased competition.
“All of these shitcoins and not one can effectively challenge dominance. It’s only a matter of time before it becomes obvious to all,” one follower said. wrote.
Along the same lines, another user argued that if Ethereum (ETH) is removed from the equation, bitcoin’s dominance increases to over 90%.
“Remove Ethereum (which plans to try to centralize more by moving to proof of stake) and that’s about 94%. And the others are so illiquid that a single large holder can wipe out the entire market cap,” Richard “Dick” Whitman, wrote.
He went on to refer to what he called the ‘Actual Bitcoin Dominance Index‘, which measures BTC’s dominance without the proof-of-stake coins and currently sits at around 65%. (Ethereum is still a proof of work blockchain, while its transition to proof-of-stake is now estimated “a few months after” June.) (Learn more: “Fiat-Like” Proof-of-Stake Chains Promote Centralization and Wealthy Players)
‘The actual Bitcoin dominance index’:
As usual, however, not everyone agrees that bitcoin will remain the best bet going forward.
“April 15, 2024: Bitcoin holds 20% dominance and maxes run out of reasons not to buy ETH,” a person with the username crypto_advisory predictedwhile another suggestedresponding to Lopp, “So what you’re saying is 164 years from now [bitcoin] will hold a market capitalization of 0% against 600,000 shitcoins.
As of 14:00 UTC on Tuesday, BTC is trading at USD 41,386, having appreciated 5.1% in one day and 4.5% in one week. Meanwhile, ETH is up 5.4% in 24h and 3.1% in 7 days, currently changing hands at $3,088.
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Learn more:
– ETH can flip Bitcoin, but it can’t “have its cake and eat it too” – Arthur Hayes
– Taproot adoption remains low, but developers say it’s not a problem for Bitcoin
– Stablecoins see growth with crypto market stuck in a “bearish lull”
– April is historically a “very strong month” for BTC; AVAX and LUNA show their potential – Analysts
– “Challenges” for Crypto Traders as Expected Volatility Lower; Solana Derivatives Wanted