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Bitcoin Dominance Spikes To 7-Month High As BTC Pokes $24K: Altcoin Season Postponed

George Georgiev Dec 23, 2020 14:06
Bitcoin's price spiked above $24,000 in a day of massive volatility. Meanwhile, BTC dominance has surged to a 7-month high as altcoins suffer against the primary cryptocurrency.

Those who were looking forward to an altcoin season would certainly have to wait longer as Bitcoin’s dominance continues to surge. Meanwhile, the majority of cryptocurrencies are bleeding heavily against BTC.

Bitcoin Tops $24,000 in a Massively Volatile Day

The volatility on the cryptocurrency market continues as most coins see tumultuous performance throughout the past few days.

Bitcoin is no exception. Today’s candle is indicative of it. The price reached a low of around $22,800 on Bitstamp, only to surge above $24,000 hours later.

Looking at the last few days, the situation has been more or less the same. At the time of this writing, the primary cryptocurrency sits at around $23,500, though this can change any second.

BTC/USD. Source: TradingView

Meanwhile, the intensity has led to another $563 million worth of both short and long positions liquidated across major exchanges over the past 24 hours. Leading the way is Binance, where the majority of liquidations, as it is on most other exchanges, comes from short positions. The bulls got the upper hand today.

Bitcoin Dominance Hits 7-Month High

The latest developments also highlight Bitcoin’s market dominance. Its share, relative to the entire cryptocurrency market, has grown to above 68%. The last time it was this high was back in May.

This is a direct consequence of its growing value, as well as the fact that altcoins are bleeding heavily compared to BTC.

Cryptocurrency Market Heatmap. Source: Coin360

As seen in the above heatmap, red is the dominant color. Over the past seven days, almost all altcoins chart double-digit declines in their BTC value, where leading the way is Ripple’s XRP. This is perhaps a consequence of the latest developments around the company, which was charged by the SEC for conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered security offering. As Ripple is facing a major lawsuit against the US watchdog, the price of its native cryptocurrency has suffered tremendously in the past couple of days.

In any case, there’s no sign of an incoming altcoin season, and it would likely take a few days of BTC consolidation for other cryptocurrencies to be able to catch up.

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George Georgiev

Georgi Georgiev is CryptoPotato's editor-in-chief and seasoned writer with over four years of experience writing about blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Georgi's passion for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies bloomed in late 2016 and he hasn't looked back since. Crypto’s technological and economic implications are what interest him most, and he has one eye turned to the market whenever he’s not sleeping. Contact George: LinkedIn