As speculators predict that smaller cryptocurrencies will soon reach record highs, Bitcoin is falling behind. An index tracking the bottom half of the largest 100 digital assets rose 60% last month, outpacing Bitcoin's 56% gain. According to CoinGecko, token values rose by nearly $800 billion throughout the same period.
Market experts see evidence of speculators shifting from Bitcoin to smaller rivals that lagged in the Bitcoin-led crypto rebound that began last year.
Our desk has been seeing strong flows and more excitement on non-Bitcoin assets recently,” said FalconX head of research David Lawant. He stated Bitcoin once received five times more investment than Ether, but now only two times.
Ether is still below all-time highs, reflecting the increased emphasis on Bitcoin amid the debut of significant US exchange-traded funds and an imminent supply reduction.
Bitcoin’s market dominance typically tops out in the weeks following an all-time high breakout,” noted K33 Research senior analyst Vetle Lunde. He noted that cryptocurrency bets rise at a “all gas, no brakes stage of the market.”
High costs for perpetual futures and record open interest at Chicago-based CME Group's Bitcoin futures exchange indicate frothy Bitcoin wagers in the derivatives sector.
That also benefits smaller digital assets, according to Bitfinex derivatives chief Jag Kooner. In a commentary, Kooner predicted that the rise in open interest will eventually redistribute into altcoins as the market's focus swings away from Bitcoin and onto meme tokens, which represented for a third of significant exchange turnover last week.
Meme coins As of 9:20 a.m. Wednesday in London, CoinGecko's seven-day performance charts showed Shiba Inu, Floki, dogwifhat, Pepe, and Bonk leading with gains of 150% or more. Bitcoin traded at $67,250, just below the US trading record of $69,192 set on Tuesday.
Crypto veterans may consider the meme trend as part of the move beyond Bitcoin, but others may see it as dumb speculation.
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