Bitcoin dominance has fallen from 65% to 59% over the past two months.

Bitcoin's market dominance has declined from 65% to 59% over the past two months, reflecting a rise in the market capitalization share of other cryptoassets.

Over the past two months, the cryptocurrency market has undergone a quiet but profound shift in power. According to CoinMarketCap, a leading data platform, Bitcoin's market dominance has plummeted from approximately 65% in early June to around 59% in mid-August. This seemingly six-percentage-point change actually reveals a significant shift in capital flows and market sentiment, representing tens of billions of dollars.

I. The Market Dynamics Behind the Data

Bitcoin dominance, or its share of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization, is a core metric for measuring its relative influence. The drop from 65% to 59%, a nearly 10% drop, cannot be explained by short-term fluctuations. This shift primarily reflects two key trends:

1. Bitcoin's relative stagnation: While Bitcoin's price has fluctuated during this period, it has generally failed to break through key resistance levels, lacking a strong new catalyst (such as the initial surge in inflows into spot ETFs).

2. The Strong Rise of Altcoins: A significant amount of capital has shifted from Bitcoin to mainstream altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Toncoin (TON), as well as altcoins in various sectors (such as RWA, DePIN, and Memecoin), driving their market capitalization growth significantly beyond that of Bitcoin.

II. Multiple Factors Driving Capital Rotation

1. Rising Expectations of Ethereum ETF Approval: From late July to August, market optimism regarding the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF in the United States surged. Proactive actions by giants like BlackRock were seen as key signals, prompting early investment in ETH and its ecosystem projects, such as Lido (LDO) and Chainlink (LINK).

2. Anticipation of an "Altcoin Season": Historical data shows that during bull market cycles, capital often rotates from Bitcoin to high-risk, high-return altcoins. The current market's rising risk appetite and investors' pursuit of alpha returns are driving a broad rally in altcoins.

3. Strong performance of ecosystems such as Solana: The Solana ecosystem continues to be active in DeFi, NFTs, and memecoins (such as WIF and BONK), with significant growth in on-chain transaction volume and users, attracting significant attention and capital inflows. Toncoin, with its deep integration with Telegram, has demonstrated unique potential.

4. Marginal improvement in the macro environment: Market expectations of a Fed rate cut (even if the timing is uncertain) have generally improved sentiment for risky assets, providing support for the overall crypto market, particularly for growth assets (altcoins) that are more sensitive to interest rates.

Bitcoin lacks a new narrative: Following the launch of spot ETFs, Bitcoin currently lacks a similarly significant new story to stimulate a continued influx of large-scale incremental capital.

Bitcoin's dominance rate dropped from 65% to 59% in two months, which is by no means an isolated data fluctuation. It clearly illustrates the core dynamics of the current cryptocurrency market: investors are actively seeking growth opportunities beyond Bitcoin. The positive outlook for the Ethereum ecosystem, the active performance of public chains like Solana, and the general increase in market risk appetite have all contributed to the beginning of this "altcoin season." This shift presents both new opportunities and increased volatility risks. Investors should closely monitor changes in driving factors, particularly the progress of Ethereum ETFs and macroeconomic trends, to determine whether Bitcoin will regain its dominance or whether the market will continue to maintain a diversified development pattern.