decrypt.co
Bitcoin’s relative percentage of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization has hit 58%, its highest level since April 2021, according to a new report from Coin Metrics.
With a staggering $590 billion market capitalization, the world’s leading cryptocurrency currently has further pushed back on Ethereum and smaller altcoins. The total market cap for the industry sits at $1.2 trillion according to Coingecko.
This comes amid news of heightened regulatory scrutiny by U.S. regulators–who recently claimed a handful of cryptocurrencies were unregulated securities, causing several to shed billions off their market capitalizations.
Bitcoin has been leading a bullish rally over the past week, after BlackRock filed for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Wall Street colossus sparked Bitcoin’s rise in crypto market dominance and triggered investors to buy the asset—despite many previously denied ETF applications.
The price boost has also spilled over into other assets, such as Grayscales Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The so-called “GBTC discount,” which refers to the difference between the price of the shares and the net asset value (NAV) of the Bitcoin it holds, continues to drop, hitting a monthly low of -30%, according to YCharts.
Coin Metrics, an open-source data analytics platform for public blockchains, reported Bitcoin’s dominance steadily dropped during the crypto spring of 2021, slumping to its lowest level in January 2022. At the time it accounted for 37% of the global crypto market cap.
The report also showcased that Bitcoin’s presence in the so-called CBMI 10–Coin Metric’s index for the top 10 cryptocurrencies–has hit its highest point in 2 years, weighing in at 65%. The metric, however, excludes stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) or USDC.
Bitcoin is up year-to-date 85%, currently trading hands at $30,395 as per Coingecko data. The asset has outscored the majority of cryptocurrencies in 2023, with notable exceptions from Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Lido Finance (LDO).