Bitcoin Dominance Hits Multi-Year High: What Does it Mean For Altcoins?

On Sept. 16, Bitcoin dominance hit 58%, according to Tradingview. This is the highest it has been since April 2021, following almost two years of steadily increasing.

BTC dominance was below 40% in November 2022 following the collapse of FTX, which sent the asset tumbling to a low of $16,000 in the brutal bear market that followed.

It has trended upwards since then, leaving the altcoins, especially Ethereum, which has seen its market share dwindle, crushed.

Ethereum dominance has declined by 30% over the past year, falling below 14% for the first time in three and a half years this week, according to Tradingview. This has also helped BTC increase its market share.

Bitcoin Dominance to Dwindle?

On Sept. 16, analyst ‘Rekt Capital’ observed BTC market share noting that its weekly close was 57.68%, above a critical support/resistance level for the first time since April 2019.

“The last time such a weekly close occurred, it kickstarted a multi-month Bitcoin dominance uptrend to 71%,” he added.

BTC dominance last topped 70% in early 2021 but rapidly tanked to 40% over the four months that followed during the altseason of that year.

#BTC

Bitcoin Dominance has made history

It has Weekly Closed above 57.68% (green) for the first time since April 2019

That's 5 years ago

The last time such a Weekly Close occurred, it kickstarted a multi-month Bitcoin Dominance uptrend to 71% (red)$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin https://t.co/W8Uggsg4T8 pic.twitter.com/16276CADjN

— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) September 16, 2024

Other analysts were not convinced, suggesting that Bitcoin dominance was peaking and that a retreat would kick start altseason during this cycle.

‘Cryptollica’ told their 30,000 X followers that dominance may decline to 35% by mid-2025.

https://twitter.com/Cryptollica/status/1835571478412054548

Meanwhile, crypto YouTuber Kyle Doops echoed the sentiment in a post on X on Sept. 17.

“This pivotal shift is set to influence market trends and could reshape the broader crypto ecosystem, particularly the altseason.”

Founder and CIO of Dira Capital, Steven Cook, concurred, stating earlier this week that despite all the recent chatter about Bitcoin dominance, “this move is likely close to being done.”

“We may have a few more months of BTC Dom increasing to 60%+. But the time to have been making calls about BTC Dom was ~2 years ago.”

Crypto Market Outlook

Crypto markets have declined by a further 1.4% on the day, with total capitalization sinking to $2.11 trillion.

Bitcoin has reclaimed the $58,000 level during the Tuesday morning Asian trading session following a dip below it in late trading on Monday.

Ethereum is still struggling and could not climb above $2,300, trading at $2,289 at the time of writing.