Crypto market cap surpasses $4t as BTC dominance begins to wane

The crypto market has seen steady gains over the past few days, driving the total market capitalization to new highs. After a brief pullback in recent weeks, investor confidence has returned, fueled by strong buying activity.

Crypto market capitalization has surged significantly over the past 24 hours, now valued at $4.1 trillion according to CoinGecko data. This marks the second time the market cap has crossed the four-trillion mark in under a month, marking a strong recovery from its earlier slip in the past weeks. 

The jump comes alongside a broader uptick among several assets. Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at $121,280, climbing roughly 2.6% in the last 24 hours and roughly 6% over the week. 

The bounce in price is boosted by growing institutional adoption, with exchange-traded funds (ETFs), corporate financial institutions, and whales doubling down with heavy acquisitions. According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin ETFs pulled a combined $247 million in inflows last week, continuing the trend of positive flows in recent months. 

But Bitcoin isn’t the only driver behind the market surge. Ethereum (ETH) has outperformed BTC significantly over the past week, gaining nearly 20%. ETH trades at $4,257 at the time of writing, recently breaking through the $4,000 mark after several months of resistance.

Ethereum’s market cap has jumped to $513.2 billion, contributing to the broader market boost. Like BTC, ETH’s surge is driven by a similar growing wave of corporate adoption, with more traditional institutions scooping up the asset on a large scale for their various treasury reserves. 

The broader positive momentum across the market has seen several assets also notch fresh gains. Pump.fun (PUMP), Lido DAO (LDO), and Ethena (ENA) are some of the day’s biggest gainers, jumping approximately 18%, 15% and 12%, respectively.

The strong performance from altcoins is sparking fresh talk of an altseason. However, Bitcoin’s tight grip on the market suggests that the anticipated rally is still facing resistance.

Bitcoin’s dominance stalls altseson 

Bitcoin continues to dominate the cryptocurrency market, holding a 58.9% share of the total crypto market capitalization. Despite slipping 3.6% in the last 24 hours, market value remains a commanding $2.41 trillion.

Crypto.news reported earlier that a recent quarterly report from Bybit and Block Scholes has highlighted a shift in the typical market structure. Traditionally, after a Bitcoin halving event, investors rotate profits from Bitcoin into altcoins, sparking what’s known as an “altseason.” This usually occurs about 230 days after the halving. 

However, that milestone passed in December 2024 without the usual decline in Bitcoin dominance or a significant altcoin rally. Bitcoin’s surge to multiple record highs over the past month was expected to ignite a broader altcoin surge, but the modest gains recorded in some of the assets failed to hold up.

Analysts have attributed this change to the evolving source of funds driving Bitcoin’s rally. The current surge is fueled primarily by institutional investors rather than retail excitement seen in past cycles. Still, market optimism hasn’t completely faded. With Ethereum’s strong gains and modest positive signals from other altcoins, investors are hopeful that a broader rally could still be on the horizon.