Bitcoin is on fire this year but you can’t quite call it a “crypto comeback”… just yet, as The Wall Street Journal points out. Investors are starting to doubt a corresponding return in alternative cryptocurrencies, and for good reason. Altcoins are still well off their 2017 highs. Many alts have, in fact, gone to zero while their more established cousins try to recuperate some of their more than 70% losses.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, is the only asset to have recovered more than 50% of its losses to date. Until other established names follow its big brother back into more familiar territory, it’s still a one-man show.
Bitcoin Dominance Approaching Multi-Year Highs
Bitcoin market dominance has done a complete u-turn since early 2018 when it featured only 32% of the total market capitalization of the industry. This, at least, according to CoinMarketCap’s records, which track 2,000 different cryptocurrency valuations on a daily basis.
As the Wall Street Journal reports, that figure has steadily risen to 62% this year, almost doubling in less than a year and a half. The last time bitcoin was this dominant was in the middle of 2017 when investors were greedily plowing their money into altcoins.