Bitcoin Dominance on the Rise: Is the Market Freezing or Just Preparing for a Rebound?
In the last month, Bitcoin (BTC) has been reclaiming its dominance in the cryptocurrency market and reached an important milestone as its market share crossed 60% on February 2, 2025.
This resurgence has brought forth some new conversations among analysts and traders because the cryptocurrency market appears to be shifting from a phase of rapid expansion to a more stagnant period.
Now, Bitcoin’s dominance is on a steady rise, while other coins are not maintaining much momentum. The projects that could be called its “copycats,” the meme coins, and a fresh batch of newly launched altcoins are showing, if not outright stagnation, then certainly some signs of weakness. They have been underperforming, and in some cases, these new tokens have even collapsed upon their launch. At least two altcoins are down more than 60% this week and another is down 72%. That wealth is not just disappearing into thin air; it’s flowing back into Bitcoin.
A Historical Pattern: Bitcoin’s Dominance Signals the Start of Major Bull Markets
In order to grasp the consequences of Bitcoin’s increasing market share, we must examine previous trends. A detailed look at Bitcoin’s past reveals a distinct pattern that occurs when its dominance reaches approximately 60% or more. For example, when Bitcoin’s market share struck 60% in November of the previous year, it was instantly followed by a mini bull market that had investors feeling optimistic and propelling the prices of both BTC and altcoins to new heights.
BTC 市占率自 02.02 重返 60% 以来，已经持续 1 个多月；这个月里山寨鬼哭狼嚎，Meme 熄火，新币上线即崩盘，行情似乎陷入冰点 —— 但行情真要结束了吗？不妨来回顾一下过去的走势
🔹往近的看，去年 11 月市占率冲上 60% 时山寨立马开启了一波小牛市
🔸往远的看，19 / 21 年比特币市市占率都曾站上过… pic.twitter.com/pYmKgfBoal— Ai 姨 (@ai_9684xtpa) March 9, 2025
However, this is not the sole instance in which Bitcoin’s dominance has made a splash. If we examine the timeline more closely, we see that in 2019 and 2021, Bitcoin’s dominance not only reached impressive heights but actually made a fold-back retest of a 70% threshold. In both cases, Bitcoin not only surged past the 70% marker but also pushed the entire market cap of the cryptocurrency space to an all-time high alongside it. That’s no coincidence.
Bitcoin’s recent market share ascent could be taking this same historical path. But the atmosphere in the crypto market today is somewhat different. Despite Bitcoin’s resurgence, the crypto market is kind of stagnating; it’s on pause. This is leading many Bitcoin enthusiasts, as well as skeptics, to speculate on what might be going on. Is this Bitcoin’s last hurrah? Is it the market’s last gasp before it blows up again? Or is the other shoe just about to drop?
Is the Market Freezing, or Just Gearing Up for Another Bull Run?
The present market conditions are unquestionably displaying indications of a slowdown. Once, meme coins flooded the market, providing explosive price increases, but they now find themselves nearly vanished from the spotlight. Copycat coins—tokens attempting to replicate the success of well-established cryptocurrencies—are also finding themselves struggling to get any traction at all. Even new projects that would in a healthy, booming market typically attract quite a bit of attention are collapsing almost immediately after they launch. This is leading to a rather widespread sense that we might be in a “frozen” market, with investors very cautious and hesitant to put any significant sums of capital into either new or untested projects.
Yet this shift in market behavior may not be as troubling as it seems. Traditionally, after periods of stagnation or sharp drops in altcoin popularity, Bitcoin has reemerged to take the lead in driving the market toward a new growth wave. And what may be making some observers nervous is that Bitcoin’s surging dominance seems to be coming at the direct expense of most altcoins and some other crypto assets. In a word, it seems to be Bitcoin, or bust. But that may not be totally ominous. It could be a sign, in fact, that the crypto market is nearing a more sustainable, stable phase, with investors prioritizing the most reliable assets in the space.
For numerous Bitcoin enthusiasts who have held the cryptocurrency for the long term, the asset’s rising market dominance is a welcome development. It boosts their belief that the market could soon transition from the current bear phase to the next bull run. Meanwhile, as Bitcoin seems relatively stable and well-performing, some of its altcoin rivals have not been faring nearly as well. Indeed, many altcoins have been posting significant losses of late. By contrast, Bitcoin’s dominance has risen rapidly in recent times.
Looking Ahead: What’s Next for the Crypto Market?
With the ascendancy of Bitcoin and the problems confronting altcoins, we may be at a watershed moment in the world of cryptocurrencies. It may look like the market is stagnating, but the history of Bitcoin suggests that when it starts to dominate the market, there are usually some significant movements in the market afterward. The question is whether it’s going to be a period of profit growth like we saw in 2019 and 2021 or whether this is the last gasp of a bull market before we head down into a bear market.
This is a critical turning point for investors. If Bitcoin maintains its position at the forefront of the market, we might witness a resurgence of interest in currencies of the crypto variety, and especially so because the gales of the global financial storm are still a-blowing. Meanwhile, altcoin investors should consider the frozen state of their markets a necessary part of the cleansing required to make way for the next big move.
To sum up, even though the present crypto market seems to be at a standstill, Bitcoin’s long-standing supremacy in the market is a good signal that things may be setting up to move favorably upward again. Whether we’re in the last lull before what could be called a decent uptrend again emerges or instead a longer period of stagnation remains to be seen, but, for now, favor Bitcoin possibly continuing its dominant rise for an undetermined length of time is a favorable bet.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any Metaverse crypto coins.
