What is Bitcoin Dominance?
Bitcoin dominance is the ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization to the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. It measures how dominant Bitcoin is relative to altcoins.
How Bitcoin Dominance Works
The formula is simple: Bitcoin Dominance = (BTC Market Cap / Total Crypto Market Cap) × 100. When dominance rises, capital is flowing into Bitcoin faster than altcoins. When dominance falls, altcoins are outperforming — often called "altseason."
Bitcoin dominance is not a fixed metric. It changes with market cycles, new altcoin launches, and stablecoin supply growth (since stablecoins are included in total market cap).
How Traders Use Dominance
- Rising dominance + BTC up: Bitcoin-led bull market. Altcoins likely lag.
- Falling dominance + BTC up: Altseason. Capital rotates from BTC into altcoins.
- Rising dominance + BTC down: Risk-off flight to BTC safety. Altcoins bleed harder.
- Falling dominance + BTC down: Rare. Usually means stablecoin supply is expanding.
Bitcoin Dominance vs Altseason
Altseason is broadly defined as a period when altcoins outperform Bitcoin. Traders watch for dominance breaking below key support levels (historically around 40-50%) as an indicator that risk appetite is shifting toward higher-beta assets.
Track Bitcoin dominance and altcoin market share in real time on the Crypto Metrics page.