Bitcoin Dominance At 17 Month High As Altcoin Assault Continues

Crypto markets are surging again and have just hit a new
2019 market capitalization high of over $190 billion. Bitcoin is largely
responsible for the momentum which is great news for the crypto industry …
unless you are an altcoin holder.

In a scene reminiscent of the big bull run of late 2017,
Bitcoin continues to chomp away at altcoins as it surges to new highs not seen
for six months. During Asian trading this morning BTC pumped in a further 3.3%
on the day to touch $6,290, its highest price since before November’s
capitulation.

Daily volume has surged to $18 billion and Bitcoin’s
dominance has reached an epic 17 month high of 58%. The last time BTC held so
much of the market was during its monumental spike in December 2017 when
dominance peaked at 64%.

The move has been at the expense of altcoins, predominantly
the higher cap ones. Ethereum market share has dropped to 9.6% and XRP, which
has been on a downward spiral all year, is down to 6.6%.

Total market capitalization for all crypto assets has not
been over $200 billion since mid-November. Today it has just reached $192
billion which is a new high for 2019. A number of altcoins are dumping heavily
though such as Cosmos sliding 9%, Bitcoin Diamond and Binance Coin dumping 7%,
and Stellar, Tron and Tezos losing 4%.

Ethereum and Litecoin have had a small boost from their big brother but nothing significant as BTC continues the altcoin assault. Crypto observers and Bitcoin maximalists are already singing the swan song for altcoins but we have all seen this type of market action before so it is nothing new really;

Where Next For Bitcoin?

Technical analysts are all eyeing
the key $6,400 level which was 2018’s
most frequently traded price. Popular twitter commentator and chart guru David
Puell added;

“$BTC: Price is not only parabolic, but vertical now. Shorts are still far from getting fully squeezed. $6.4k may activate longs from late trend traders, setting up the perfect blow-off top.”

There could be a number of fundamental factors driving up
the price of Bitcoin and Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano reckons it could be state
driven;

“My guess is that at least one large government has already
bought a significant amount of Bitcoin. Eventually they will all follow.”

Either way, Bitcoin continues to set new highs for the year bringing market cap up with it. The altcoins are having a tough time keeping up as they have done so in the past. As in nature, only the fittest will survive, and the trigger for a major crypto-wide market surge may be just around the corner.