What is the Bitcoin Dominance Index?

  

There are quite a few intriguing metrics to determine the position of Bitcoin in the financial market. However, there is also such a thing called the Bitcoin Dominance Index. This “index” measures the market cap of Bitcoin compared to the overall market cap of all cryptocurrencies in existence. It is an interesting factor to look at, although it doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story either.

Most people are well aware of how Bitcoin has always been looked at as the dominant cryptocurrency. Over the past few years, the market cap of Bitcoin was by far the largest compared to all altcoins. That situation slowly came to change thanks to the introduction of Ethereum, Dash, Monero, and other coins gaining some major traction. Ever since that time, things have started to change for the Bitcoin Dominance Index. Even though the popular cryptocurrency is still dominating the overall market, its undisputed position has taken a few bumps along the road. In fact, Bitcoin’s dominance has dipped to 59.7% over the past six months, which is an all-time low. This is good news for people who hold diversified portfolios, though, that much is certain.

To put this into perspective, Bitcoin still generates most of the trading volume in the fiat currency market. Moreover, altcoins mainly get their trading volume from the Bitcoin trading pair as well. Without Bitcoin, there would be very little to no trading volume for a lot of altcoins, even those which have started to gain mainstream traction as of late. This puts the Bitcoin Dominance Index in a rather awkward spotlight. Bitcoin is only responsible for 59.7% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. However, most of these altcoins still derive their value based on how they are valued against bitcoin. This is also what creates most of the altcoin volatility as of right now, as a bullish Bitcoin trend will send the altcoin/BTC trading value on a wild swing. Most altcoins have proven to be somewhat resilient in this regard, though.

Moreover, the Bitcoin Dominance Index is not necessarily the best reference when it comes to gauging Bitcoin and altcoin values. Some of the listings on the platform are subject to significant discussion. Forked coins, currencies with a massive premine or instamine, or relaunched projects are all counted as part of the overall cryptocurrency market cap. While these coins have some form of value to the right people, it goes to show there are quite a few factors capable of skewing the numbers. In the end, the Bitcoin Dominance Index provides some interesting metrics, yet it is only a snapshot of how things are evolving. Bitcoin’s dominance is certainly waning, though, which nobody can deny right now. Diversification remains a critical part of being successful in the cryptocurrency industry, that much is evident.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member