Bitcoin price is hovering around $4000, the slight resurgence of the coin has given rise to hopes that the market will recover before the end of 2019.
However, recent data from Coinmarketcap shows that Bitcoin dominance has reduced and on the point of dropping below 50 percent for the first time in seven months.
Bitcoin dominance presently stands at 50.9% and may soon fall below 50 percent according to projections. On March 17, it fell to 50.4 percent.
Altcoins Rise in Popularity
Bitcoin dominance stood at more than 70 percent in 2017 during the massive bull-run but the proliferation of more coins some of which have gained reasonable communities around them and the prolonged bear market has led to drop in the market share of the premier digital token.
By January 2018, the market share of Bitcoin had dropped to 32.48 percent mainly due to the many initial coin offering sold throughout 2017 which represented a peak of the coin market boom.
The disenchantment with ICOs due to the fact that many performed below expectations and the prevalence of scam tokens helped the coin recover the market share it lost earlier in the year, By August 11, 2018, the market share of Bitcoin stood at 50 percent.
Altcoin As Investment Alternative
The recent downward trend in Bitcoin dominance could be attributed to better market performance of some altcoins. This does not imply that Bitcoin which has traded between $3,200 and $4,300 has shown significantly weakened position in recent weeks.
Some of the coins that have put up good performance include Binance Coin, Enjin and Litecoin which have all made gains of above 97 percent. Binance coin made gains of 181 bpercent while Enjin leads the pack with massive growth of 406 percent.
With coins like this increasing their shares in the market, it is no surprise that the Bitcoin share would reduce.
Bitcoin capitalization has since some boosts in recent months even though it may not be enough to counter the loss of market share. Since February 6, there has been a spike in BTC capitalization from $59 billion to $71 billion. The 20 percent growth may not be enough stabilization to sustain its dominance long-term.
The drop in the dominance of Bitcoin is an indication that many investors are eager to explore riskier assets in the quest to make money even with the disenchantment with ICOs.
It is obvious that there are many that want to take chances with listed tokens and coins knowing that they are known for volatility in either direction. Even though the days of making gains of 1000% are long gone, these investors are optimistic that there is still money to be made off altcoins.
