Bitcoin (BTC) dominance, which reflects Bitcoin’s overall share of the cryptocurrency market, has seen a consistent increase since the beginning of 2023, despite the influx of numerous new coins and tokens.
The current BTC market dominance stands at approximately 61.6%, a decrease from the recent high of 64.3% achieved on February 3.
BTC dominance surged back above 60% on February 2 during a broader market decline triggered by concerns over an extended trade conflict between the United States and its trading partners.
Macroeconomic instability often impacts risk-sensitive assets, and the recent market dip has particularly affected altcoins more severely than BTC due to their lower liquidity and higher-risk nature.
Bitcoin’s market dominance has been on the rise since 2023.
The current market environment also includes Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which channel liquidity into these investment vehicles, limiting the flow of capital into altcoins—a trend that traders and investors have grown accustomed to in the past.
Earlier market cycles were marked by investors shifting profits from safer assets like BTC into higher-risk investments, beginning with large-cap altcoins and eventually moving toward smaller-cap tokens.
The liquidity trapped in traditional investment platforms, combined with the growing number of new coins and tokens vying for attention and capital, has led some experts to propose that the era of altcoin seasons may be over, and may not appear in this or future market cycles.
Related: Bitcoin set to potentially reclaim $90,000, based on derivatives analysis
An Oversaturated Market
The total count of cryptocurrency tokens and coins listed on a prominent tracking site was under 11 million unique assets on February 8, and by March 15, that number had exploded to over 12.7 million.
There are now tens of millions of unique digital assets in the markets.
In January 2025 alone, more than 600,000 tokens were launched, with most categorized as memecoins created on fair launch platforms and lower-cap altcoins.
Market analyst Jesse Myers notes that when these coins fail, they often don’t drop to $0; instead, they hover at market caps between $10,000 and $100,000, thus trapping capital in illiquid pools.
This surge in new tokens and assets has led the CEO of a major cryptocurrency exchange to reassess the listing process to better meet the evolving demands of consumers.
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This article does not offer investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading venture carries risk, and readers are encouraged to conduct their own research before making decisions.