Share this article
Risk Flight? Bitcoin Dominance Hits 9-Week High
Bitcoin's percentage of the crypto market is up – a sign that investors are likely switching their money from alternative cryptocurrencies.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:06 a.m. Published Jun 27, 2018, 3:15 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Bitcoin's share of the cryptocurrency market hit a 2.5-month high today – a sign that investors are likely switching their money from alternatives into the industry's most widely traded asset.
As tracked by CoinMarketCap, the gauge rose to 42.74 percent earlier on Wednesday, the highest level since April 14, and was last seen a tad lower at 42.5 percent.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The Dominance Index is an indicator that tracks the percent of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization contributed by the leading cryptocurrency. So, a rising dominance rate essentially means the demand for bitcoin is greater than the demand for other innovations.
A flow toward bitcoin is usually seen at the start of the bull run, as it's a common route for fiat money to enter the cryptocurrency market.
For instance, BTC's dominance rate rose from 38 percent to 66.5 percent in the six months to December 2017 – a time in which the cryptocurrency rallied from $1,760 to $20,000. However, it also tends to rise during periods of risk aversion – when investors move out of high-risk alternative cryptocurrencies and into bitcoin, and then possibly on to fiat currency.
And it's the latter scenario that we likely are witnessing currently. In the last seven weeks, BTC has crashed from $9,990 to $5,755 and still, the BTC dominance rate has gone from 35.78 percent to 42.75 percent.
So, the writing on the wall is clear: right now, a lot of investors prefer cash over any of the cryptocurrencies, bitcoin included.
If prices start to rally along with the BTC dominance rate, however, it could mean the crypto markets have bottomed out, finally finding a floor after months of decline.
Chalk arrows image via Shutterstock
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
Bitcoin pulls back to as low as $81,000 as horrendous day continues
The world's largest cryptocurrency has shed nearly $10,000 over the past 24 hours, now threatening to take out its recent November low just under $81,000.
What to know:
- Bitcoin (BTC) continued to quickly decline in the U.S. evening hours on Thursday, the price falling all the way to $81,000.
- More than $777 million in leveraged crypto long positions were liquidated in the space of one hour.
- Comments from President Trump caused a surge in Polymarket betting odds on Kevin Warsh becoming the next Fed chair, perhaps disappointing some traders who hoped the more dovish Rick Rieder would be selected.
Top Stories
