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The popular cryptocurrency data aggregator, CoinGecko, reviewed the events in the digital asset market in Q1 2020. According to the report shared with CryptoPotato, Bitcoin ultimately ended up losing 11% of its value, but some altcoins and stablecoins managed to record gains and decreased BTC’s dominance.
Bitcoin’s Q1 Data
The unexpected outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic put pressure on most financial markets, including cryptocurrencies. With the violent price fluctuations in Q1 2020, most digital assets provided negative returns. Bitcoin, for instance, lost 10.8% of its value, according to the document.
The graph above demonstrates BTC’s movements in relation to world events. Aside from the most talked-about news in this period – the coronavirus – the graph also refers to some other compelling moments.
Those include the popular TV show The Simpsons explaining the nature of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, and Virgin Galactic chairman, Chamath Palihapitiya, advising people to allocate 1% of their investment portfolio into Bitcoin.
Despite the decrease in Q1, it’s worth noting that with the start of April, Bitcoin is entering its strongest quarter historically. As CryptoPotato reported recently, BTC has surged on average by 66% in Q2. Co-founder of CoinGecko, TM Lee, also expressed optimism regarding this period:
“The first quarter is one that we most definitely want to erase from memory. Not only was the world ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw massive losses in the stock and crypto market. However, with every massive drop in price, there is always an opportunity to buy cryptocurrencies for cheap. As we enter Q2, we hope that the COVID-19 situation will subside and markets will improve.”
Altcoins Rise Against BTC
Despite the massive dives in mid-March, when the market lost about 40% of its value in 24 hours, some coins ended Q1 in profit. Those include Ethereum (+3%), Bitcoin Cash (+7), Tezos (+19), Chainlink (+28), and Dash (59%). However, the most significant gainer in this period was Bitcoin SV (+70%).
Consequently, Bitcoin’s dominance over the altcoins dropped by 3.5%.
Stablecoins also registered an impressive first quarter. Traders traditionally employ them during times of increased volatility. Such an extensive example came during the mentioned above panic sell-offs on Black Thursday. Therefore, when most cryptocurrency assets were plunging, the total market capitalization of stablecoins surged.
Thus, the report concluded, their total supply increased in Q1 alone by over 30%. And none is more dominating than Tether. Not only USDT had 84.4% of the total market cap of stablecoins, but it was responsible for 94.16% of the trading volume in the first quarter.
