Bitcoin market share dives 50% in 30 days
Bitcoin market cap share hits an all-time low, halving in just a month as overall market cap hits an all-time high. What does this mean for bitcoin's future? There's good news and bad news.
It was and forever will be the first, and while bitcoin remains the undisputed king of cryptocurrency, it’s becoming less and less of a one-horse race. Let’s start with the good news.
Today, the global cryptocurrency market cap – the total across some 1,385 cryptocurrencies – hit an all-time high of US$667 billion. This is comforting news for investors that may have been fearing the worst after the cap dived a whopping 30% on December 22 to a low of US$422 billion. This price correction followed bitcoin tipping over the US$20,000 for the first time and the plummet was dramatic to say the least. And expensive. However, today’s all-time high in market cap value sees the market cap climb back above the US$650 billion market seen before the fall.
It’s where that money has been invested that is the bad news – at least from bitcoin’s perspective. While bitcoin has climbed back up from a low of US$12,880 to trade (at the time of writing) for US$15,350, the rest of the money has returned to the market via altcoins. Ripple, Ethereum, Cardano, NEM and Stellar are perhaps the biggest growers over these past two weeks, all trending upwards consistently to be selling for more than they were before the correction. In fact, just a few hours ago Ripple hit an all-time high.
As a result, bitcoin’s market share has hit an all-time low. As in, the amount of the overall market cap contributed by bitcoin is at an all-time low. At the time of writing, the bitcoin market cap contributes 35.6% of the overall total. By comparison, only a month ago in early December, it was approximately 67% of the market cap. Effectively, it has been cut in half.
What does the bitcoin market cap all-time low mean?
The truth is, while bitcoin’s overall market share has dwindled, it was not unexpected. With so many new cryptocurrencies appearing in the market, there was always going to be some dilution. Especially as we’ve seen a greater variety of selling points in rival altcoins and a boom in overall trader interest. The bitcoin market cap is still double the market cap share of the next altcoin, which is Ripple. Plus, bitcoin has experienced a growth of 19% over the last few days since its lowest ebb during the price correction.
However, it’s not on the up as much as its peers. There’s also more room for milestone moments that can invigorate buyer interest in the rising altcoins. As an example, Ripple’s pending appearance on major exchange Coinbase is expected to double its value overnight.
It’s likely as these opportunities arise, more money might leave bitcoin in favour of the new kids on the block. We might begin to see a plateau in bitcoin’s value as a result, and certainly a rise back above the US$20,000 mark in the near future seems unlikely at this juncture. But this all-time low in the bitcoin market cap certainly isn’t grounds for panic among current investors.
Additional bitcoin price watch news:
Find out why the price of TRON is going up
Find out why the price of Ethereum is going up
Find out why the price of NEO is going up
Find out why the price of RaiBlocks is going up
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