Bitcoin Dominance Reaches Highest Level Since 2021

Bitcoin dominance, BTC.D, appears to be headed for 60% after breaking out to new highs.

BTC.D is now at 59.2%, the highest it's been since April 2021, and is being led by the consistent underperformance of altcoins and ETH since the bottom of the bear market in Q4 2022. BTC.D is now up 51% since FTX collapsed and 16% since the beginning of 2024.

The consistent rise in Bitcoin dominance may be driven by the market's general apathy towards low-float altcoins and ETH’s poor performance, lending a larger market share to tokens such as BTC and SOL. The current uncertainty around the U.S. presidential election also lends some credence to the BTC.D rise, as the general market consensus is that altcoins will do well under a Republican regime but continue to struggle under Democrats due to regulatory scrutiny.

Despite the advent of Ethereum ETFs earlier this year, August marked the asset's worst performance since Terra Luna’s collapse in 2022.

The cumulative flows for the Ethereum ETFs are still negative, with $427 million in ETH being sold since the ETFs launched in May. Meanwhile, the BTC ETFs have pulled in $22 billion of capital since January.