Bitcoin, the original and most popular cryptocurrency, could be starting to lose its luster.
Bitcoin market dominance, or the percentage of which Bitcoin’s market capitalization represents the market capitalization of the entire cryptocurrency, fell 2% from last Monday to 62% while ETH and other alternative currencies captured the attention of the market.
the hot new trend of the DeFi tokens are leading the charge, pushing Bitcoin’s dominance down.
Powered by hulking agricultural yield comes back and a myriad of nascent experiments in decentralized loansThe signs point to the rebirth of the alternative season, with all the fear of being lost (FOMO) and the fear, riots, and dissent (FUD) that come with it.
So is Bitcoin going out of style or have we been here before?
Bitcoin dominance: a brief history
Bitcoin’s dominance has dropped below 50% just once before, giving way to the ICO 2017 craze where hundreds of alternative currencies made some fortunes and broke the hearts of others.
But for years, Bitcoin has been the most powerful cryptocurrency. Bitcoin’s dominance remained above 98% during the first years of its existence. During this period, a handful of alternative crypto assets were launched, including Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum, and Elon Musk’s recent favorite, Dogecoin.
BTC Dominance fell to 95% in the summer of 2016, and 9 months later, a few weeks after 2017, a precipitous decline began that coincided with the original. ‘alternative season‘where large amounts of investment began targeting new crypto assets.
From February 2017 to January 2018, Bitcoin’s dominance fell from over 95% to a low of less than 37% as prices for cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Monero rose to levels never seen before or since.
During that period, ETH prices rose a staggering 13,400% from less than $ 11 to more than $ 1,440 less than a year later. In comparison, Bitcoin grew more than 1,850% over the same period, just a return to go crazy, but a far cry from the ETH rocket.
These prices were not intended to last. Throughout 2018, ERC20 tokens and other cryptocurrencies shed value almost as fast as they had gained, with ETH losing more than 90% of its value by the end of the year.
Bitcoin fared somewhat better, losing around 80% of its total value during the same period. At that point, the Bitcoin domain had risen above 50%. The recuperation continued for the rest of the year, and in the last days of 2019, Bitcoin’s dominance had risen to almost 70%.
But once again, the newest and most versatile tokens begin to prove their worth. Bitcoin cannot participate in DeFi, which lives primarily on Ethereum. So how long will Bitcoin be able to remain relevant?
