Comparing the performance of the prices of bitcoin and altcoins, the latter seem to be suffering the most in these difficult days.
This is noted by Santiment, who points out the difference between the 4.5% loss of bitcoin, and for example the 26% loss of Dogecoin.
Those who have stayed strong in #Bitcoin on the #crypto downswing have been relatively rewarded compared to high-risk #altcoin traders. $BTC has fallen just -4.5% the past 3 days through the volatility, while $DOGE (-26.1%) & other #alts have dropped hard. https://t.co/9yMgAek8eN pic.twitter.com/VGqEFreoSl
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) June 23, 2021
Taking the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization as a reference, excluding stablecoins of course, the price of BTC is currently down 15% from a week ago, but the other major cryptocurrencies are down by a higher percentage.
For example, ETH is down 21%, about the same as BNB. ADA stands at -18%, while XRP is down 27%.
Even DOGE and DOT are down 32%.
This difference is confirmed by bitcoin’s dominance, i.e. the percentage of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization held by BTC.
On 19 May, the day of the flash crash, bitcoin’s dominance hit a 2021 low of 37.76% according to CoinGecko.
In the following days, it was back above 40%, but with the crashes in late May and early June, it was back under.
However, from 10 June it started to rise again, not so much due to a particularly positive performance of the BTC price, but due to a further drop in altcoin prices.
On 12 June it was already back above 43%, while yesterday it exceeded 46%.
The current level of bitcoin dominance is similar to that of early May, although the price is far lower.
Bitcoin’s flash crash and the effect on altcoins
In other words, after the flash crash on 19 May driven by the price of bitcoin, a general decline was triggered led by the altcoins, as the low peak reached by BTC on that day was not reached again in the following days, except yesterday for a very short period.
Thus, since 19 May, the price of bitcoin has been moving sideways in a range between $30,000 and $40,000, with rare exceptions, while the price of many altcoins has fallen further in the same period.
This dynamic has been observed in the past. In fact, bitcoin has often proven to be more resilient than altcoins. During bullish phases, it now often grows less in percentage terms but holds up better during bearish phases.
