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Bitcoin Dominance Rises as ETH/BTC Breaks Down

Bitcoin

Ethereum

Market

Last updated:

October 23, 2023 09:02 EDT

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Fredrik Vold

Author

Fredrik Vold

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Last updated:

October 23, 2023 09:02 EDT

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The bitcoin (BTC) dominance – bitcoin’s share of the overall crypto market capitalization – has risen sharply over the past two days, as the price of ethereum (ETH) has broken lower against BTC.

Since Wednesday this week, the bitcoin dominance has risen from under 42% to 44.3% as of Thursday at 10:23 UTC, the highest level seen since November 11 last year.

Bitcoin dominance:

The sharp rise in the bitcoin dominance comes as a result of the strong sell-off in crypto markets this week. Market sell-offs have historically often led to heavier selling for altcoins than bitcoin, with the latter being seen by some as a ‘safe haven’ within crypto.

ETH/BTC under pressure

Notably, the ETH/BTC rate has now also come under pressure, after ETH held up well against BTC earlier in the week. As recently as on Monday this week, ETH gained against BTC, despite sharply lower prices in US dollar terms across much of the crypto market.

As of Thursday, however, the technical outlook in the chart had changed from neutral to bearish-looking, with ETH now touching a key trendline on the weekly chart against BTC that has held since June of last year.

Weekly chart of ETH/BTC:

Commenting on the market action, Nik Bhatia, a popular bitcoin proponent and adjunct professor of finance at the University of Southern California, called the potential breakdown of ETH/BTC a red candle “darker than all.”

“It reeks of death,” the popular bitcoiner added.