BITCOIN DOMINANCE
What is Bitcoin Dominance?
BTC dominance, BTC.D, BTC dom, or Bitcoin dominance is a metric that measures the market capitalization of Bitcoin and compares it to market capitalization of all other cryptocurrencies. This ratio is very useful in trading because when Bitcoin is growing and BTC.D is on the rise, altcoins usually retrace and bleed whilst when Bitcoin is ranging and BTC.D is going down, altcoins usually run.
Bitcoin dominance measures Bitcoin's market capitalization as a percentage of the total cryptocurrency market cap. It is one of the most closely watched macro signals in the crypto space because it captures the relative flow of capital between Bitcoin and the broader altcoin ecosystem.
Rising dominance typically indicates that capital is rotating into Bitcoin — either because investors are risk-off and seeking relative safety in the largest asset, or because Bitcoin is in a strong uptrend outperforming the altcoin market. Falling dominance suggests that altcoins are outperforming and capital is flowing outward — a dynamic commonly referred to as "altcoin season."
The absolute level of dominance matters less than its direction and rate of change. A dominance figure moving from 45% to 55% signals a meaningful rotation toward Bitcoin regardless of where the starting level sits relative to history. Breakouts above multi-month resistance or breakdowns below long-held support in the dominance chart have historically preceded major market regime shifts.
Dominance should be read alongside total market cap trends and Ethereum market share. When both BTC dominance and ETH dominance are falling simultaneously, capital is typically flowing into smaller-cap altcoins — often a sign of a late-stage bull market phase with elevated speculative risk.