{"id":88717,"date":"2023-07-29T01:59:43","date_gmt":"2023-07-29T01:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com"},"modified":"2024-03-05T13:02:36","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T13:02:36","slug":"bitcoin-dominance-crashes-after-xrp-win-altcoin-season-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/bitcoin-dominance-crashes-after-xrp-win-altcoin-season-next","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Dominance Crashes After XRP Win \u2013 Altcoin Season Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin<\/a>‘s dominance in the cryptocurrency market has experienced a significant tumble following the <\/span>United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC)<\/span> partial loss in its lawsuit against <\/span><\/a>Ripple Labs, the creator of ripple<\/a> (XRP)<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The recent court victory for the crypto company, in which the SEC’s claims that XRP is security were (mostly) rebuffed, has triggered a surge in altcoin prices, causing bitcoin’s market dominance to briefly fall below the 50% mark.<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding Bitcoin Dominance<\/span><\/h2>\n

Bitcoin<\/span> dominance refers to the measure of the percentage of the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency<\/a> market that is accounted for by BTC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the early years after its launch in 2009, bitcoin was the sole digital asset and accounted for the entire crypto market’s capitalization. However, as time passed, the crypto landscape started to change.<\/span><\/p>\n

The emergence of <\/span>altcoins<\/span><\/a> began in 2011 with the introduction of litecoin<\/a> (LTC) and namecoin (NMC), diversifying the total cryptocurrency market cap. Then, in 2015, ethereum<\/a> (ETH) was introduced and quickly became bitcoin’s closest competitor and introducing its native currency, ether.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2017, Initial Coin Offerings<\/a> (ICOs) became an incredibly popular way to launch a new crypto coin and raise funds for all kinds of projects. The boom of hundreds of new tokens<\/span> further diluted BTC dominance, causing it to hit an all-time low. However, it later rebounded and climbed back above 50% within a few months after the ICO bubble popped and investors retreated to the relative security of BTC.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, bitcoin dominance faces significant competition from various sectors of the cryptocurrency industry, such as ether and the rise of decentralized finance<\/a> (<\/span>DeFi)<\/span>, non-fungible tokens<\/a> (<\/span>NFTs)<\/span>, <\/span>metaverse<\/span><\/a> tokens, and more than 20,000 altcoins.<\/span><\/p>\n

These new and diverse tokens have contributed to the fragmentation of the crypto market and challenged bitcoin’s dominant position. As the crypto landscape continues to evolve, BTC dominance will continue to be influenced by the rise and development of various alternative <\/span>cryptocurrencies.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

SEC’s Claims and Ripple’s Victory<\/span><\/h2>\n

The SEC’s legal battle against Ripple Labs immediately grabbed the crypto community’s attention for more than two years. The regulatory agency accused the company of selling XRP, which it claimed was an <\/span>unregistered security<\/span>, threatening to set a precedent for other altcoins.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In today\u2019s summary judgment ruling, SEC vs Ripple:<\/p>\n

"Ripple\u2019s Institutional Sales of XRP constituted the unregistered offer and sale of investment contracts in violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/qf4duETs3z<\/a><\/p>\n

— Cory Klippsten \ud83e\udda2 #Bitcoin is moral tender (@coryklippsten) July 13, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n