Bitcoin dominance
Bitcoin dominance is the percentage of the total value of the crypto market that comes from Bitcoin. It shows how large Bitcoin is compared with all other cryptocurrencies combined.
What is Bitcoin dominance?
This calculation uses market cap, which is the total value of all coins in circulation based on their price.
For example, if Bitcoin has 60% dominance, then Bitcoin makes up 60% of the crypto market’s total market cap. The higher the percentage, the larger Bitcoin’s share.
An example of Bitcoin dominance
Suppose the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies combined is 100 billion euros. If Bitcoin’s market cap is 60 billion euros, then Bitcoin dominance is 60%.
The remaining 40% comes from other cryptocurrencies, such as altcoins. This example shows that dominance is a ratio, not the price of Bitcoin.
Why is Bitcoin dominance important in crypto?
In news about price movements, rising Bitcoin dominance can mean that Bitcoin is doing relatively better than altcoins. This can happen because people are buying more Bitcoin, selling altcoins, or because altcoins are falling more sharply.
Falling dominance may indicate that altcoins are getting more attention. This often happens during an altcoin season, when investors take on more risk and find smaller cryptocurrencies more interesting.
Bitcoin dominance is not a prediction of future prices. It is one simple metric for the distribution of value in the crypto market and, on its own, does not explain why that distribution changes.