Bitcoin Tops $68K, With Dominance Over Crypto Market Hitting New Cycle High

As a seasoned researcher who has witnessed the crypto market’s dynamic evolution over the past few years, it is evident that the current trend of Bitcoin dominance reaching new cycle highs is nothing short of remarkable. Having closely followed the market since its early days, I must admit that the resurgence of Bitcoin’s dominance brings back memories of the 2020-21 bull run, albeit with a more measured and steady rise this time around.

On Wednesday, the overall cryptocurrency market surged upward, with bitcoin (BTC) taking the lead and increasing its weekly growth to over 12%, reaching beyond $68,000 for the first time since late July. Meanwhile, the comprehensive index by CoinDesk, which measures the broader market, only rose by 9% during the same period.

The proportion of the overall cryptocurrency market that Bitcoin controls has risen significantly, climbing from 57.13% at the start of October to 58.91%. This is the highest level since April 2021 and represents the strongest reading in terms of Bitcoin’s dominance since then, as per TradingView’s TOTAL data. In other words, the total crypto market cap is currently $2.281 trillion, with Bitcoin accounting for around $940 billion of that figure.

During the 2020-21 bull market, Bitcoin’s dominance surged above 70%, but later dropped down to approximately 40% in mid-2021. For over a year, its dominance fluctuated around this range until it plummeted along with the failure of crypto exchange FTX in late 2022. Since then, there has been a gradual increase that persists up until now.

Ether to bitcoin ratio

Bitcoin’s growing influence can be attributed to a decrease in the strength of Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The current Ether/Bitcoin ratio of approximately 0.03850 is at its lowest point since April 2021.

An examination of the ETH/BTC ratio, starting from its bottom in June 2022, reveals a persistent pattern of less strong recoveries. In contrast to previous cycles like the 2016-2019 and 2019-2022 phases, where the ETH/BTC ratio was at least twice as high as it is now from the cycle low at this point, the current ratio is currently 25% lower than its June 2022 cycle low. This suggests that ether has been performing less favorably compared to bitcoin.

In summary, ether has surpassed bitcoin in performance only for seven out of the last 23 months. The latest instance of such superior performance happened as far back as May 2024.