Altcoins Surpass Bitcoin in August Roller Coaster
Altcoins have overtaken bitcoin in terms of outperformance this month. While the crypto market as a whole has suffered losses, bitcoin has fallen more at a time when the digital asset would have served as a safe haven for investors. Now, with altcoins taking the lead in terms of mining, it points to the downward trend worsening over time, especially for bitcoin.
Bitcoin fails to hold its own
Bitcoin has had its share of ups and downs in the past month. Despite being a market mover, the digital asset has fallen short when it comes to holding value. It saw a combined decline of 13% in the month of August, the highest of any of the other indices.
The Large Cap Index is the index that tracks the movement of bitcoin at the close, so it comes as no surprise that it saw the second biggest decline over the same time period. The Large Cap Index fell 12% in August alone, leaving the market at the mercy of its smaller counterparts.
Altcoins outperform BTC | Source: Arcane Research
In a surprising turn of events, the Small and Mid Cap indices saw price declines of 10% respectively. Normally, in a market like this, investors will exit both indices in droves, given how highly volatile they can be. However, they have proven to be a better safe haven throughout this market compared to Bitcoin and the Large Cap Index. Still, every index saw double-digit declines, which is never a good sign for the crypto market.
Stablecoins regain dominance
Bitcoin is still the most dominant cryptocurrency in the market, but it is rapidly losing this boast every day. Instead, as the price has fallen and investors fear the worst, they have moved into stablecoins to provide some much-needed cover from market volatility. In light of this, stablecoin dominance continues to rise.
Dominance recovers to 40.18% | Source: Market Cap BTC Dominance on TradingView.com
For another week, bitcoin’s dominance is down again, this time by 0.65%, and stablecoins have been on the sidelines to soak it all up. USDT saw its market dominance grow by 0.15%, while USDC saw its dominance grow by 0.11%. BUSD, another strong contender, was able to add another 0.06% to its dominance for the same time period.
Interestingly, Ethereum also saw an increase in market dominance despite the poor performance of the Large Cap Index. The altcoin, whose upcoming “Merge” has greatly excited the market, saw its market dominance increase by 0.24%.
Bitcoin’s dominance touched a new 7-month high on August 30 when it fell to 39.35%. Ethereum’s market dominance is now at 19.81%. With USDT, USDC and BUSD at 6.81%, 5.27% and 1.94% respectively.
Featured image from Prestmit, charts from Arcane Research and TradingView.com
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