The dominance index of the first cryptocurrency could continue to rise, as risks of price declines grow for many well-known altcoins. This view was expressed in an interview with CoinDesk by Marcus Tilen of Matrixport.
On Monday, September 18, Bitcoin’s market share returned to levels above 50%.
For more than two years the indicator hovered in the 39-49% range. At the end of June dominance jumped to a 26-month high of 52% after asset manager BlackRock filed with the SEC an application to launch a ETF based on digital gold. Following the asset manager, similar requests were filed by Valkyrie, Fidelity Investments, WisdomTree and Invesco.
The prospect of approval for exchange-traded bitcoin funds generated hopes of a large capital influx into the leading cryptocurrency. Matrixport’s head of research believes digital gold faces a sell-off of tokens from the bankrupt exchange FTX, declining revenues of the Ethereum protocol, and upcoming unlocks that would allow venture investors to realise their coins.
“This year BTC reached its peak in July, and ETH in April. All of these ETF applications have actually not benefited either the altcoins or even Ethereum,” said Tilén.
Macro analyst Noelle Acheson pointed to another favourable factor for Bitcoin—the proposed listing rules for crypto exchanges. The changes impose stricter norms for asset listings, while for digital gold there are no regulatory obstacles, she emphasised.
Earlier on September 18, the price of Bitcoin surpassed the $27,000 level.