Bitcoin’s share of total cryptocurrency market capitalisation is at its highest point in three months, currently standing at about 55.14 percent according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin Dominance Surges amid Crypto Price Panic
The next four high volume cryptocurrencies in order of market volume are XRP with 11.14 percent, ethereum with 8.55 percent, bitcoin cash with 1.65 percent, and litecoin with 1.33 percent. The data confirms a frequently-observed pattern where crypto investors whose holdings are taking a beating choose to dump their altcoin holdings and retreat into the relative safety of bitcoin.
The total crypto market cap continues to hover around $110 billion, a figure that represents a more than 86 percent drop from the all-time high of $825 billion in January. A few days ago, CCN reported that the bitcoin price hit a new yearly low near $3,200, and the market rout continues to show no sign of abating.
As the end of the year approaches and a number of optimistic predictions about a crypto market rebound look increasingly wide of the mark, a good number of investors may likely have decided to prepare for the so-called “crypto winter” by converting their holdings to bitcoin — either to hold or in preparation for cashing out into fiat.
Investors Remain Confident
Amidst miserable market conditions, a few notable crypto investors and analysts continue to stress that even though the market is taking some pain at the moment, this does not mean that cryptocurrencies are undergoing a fundamental unraveling as an asset class just yet.
Responding to recent fears about a bitcoin “death spiral” whereby miners effectively jeopardise the running of the blockchain by leaving quicker than the network can adjust its hashing difficulty, Andreas Antonopoulos said:
“Miners have a much more long-term perspective, meaning that they have existing investments in equipment and they usually purchase electricity on long-term plans, they don’t pay it by the week. And therefore, if they have to wait to become profitable another three months and they have the equipment in place, they’re not turning it off.”
Billionaire venture capitalist Jim Breyer also recently added his voice to the conversation, stating that regardless of the market woes cryptocurrencies are facing, the present and potential utility offered by blockchain technology makes it unthinkable that this will turn out to be the “end” of crypto. Rather, he said, this is merely a cyclical market movement that does not change the basic fact that some of the world’s most intelligent people are currently building solutions within the blockchain space.
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