Bitcoin dominance is the crypto market share of the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, over the rest of the crypto market. The indicator has been fluctuating between a high of almost 96% in November 2013 and a low of 33.4% recorded in January 2018, during the craziest altcoin season.
Following the BItcoin’s Bull Run of 2019, the dominance has risen from 51% at the beginning of the year to nearly 70% as of now. However, a new study suggests that the real dominance of Bitcoin is approximately 90%, a lot more than what we are used to.
Market Dominance Calculated
In order to obtain the percentage of each coin, the circulating supply must be multiplied by the coin’s price and then divided by the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. Doing this math shows that Bitcoin has always been the most dominant force in the cryptocurrency community. As per Coingecko, Bitcoin’s market dominance today is 68.13%, which is near to the year-to-date high of 69.73%. However, new research by Arcane shows that different numbers may arise when adding trading liquidity to the mix.
90% Bitcoin Dominance
When liquidity is considered as well, Bitcoin’s presence appears to be even more dominant at around 90%. Liquidity is the key to receiving the most accurate market capitalization numbers as per the person who conducted the research – Bendik Schei, who explains:
“The main reason is that one could easily create a cryptocurrency with 1 billion pre-mined coins, and do one trade at say three dollars each. This would lead to a total market capitalization of $3 billion, which would represent 1% market dominance with today’s valuations and inflate the total market capitalization. The problem is that the calculation does not take liquidity into account. One might be able to sell one token for three dollars, but what happens if you want to sell 1 million? Without accounting for liquidity, market capitalization becomes a meaningless measure.”
What is Left for Altcoins?
By modifying the numbers when liquidity is in the mix, altcoins appear to be in an unenviable position. Even the highest altcoins in regular market capitalization like Litecoin, Ripple, and Ethereum struggle to achieve 10% combined. Schei also added: “Everyday Bitcoin stays ahead, it becomes less likely that any other cryptocurrency can compete as money.”
