Does Bitcoin’s Declining Dominance Signal Altcoin Season Is Coming?

Author: Ray Salmond, Cointelegraph; Compiled by: Songxue, Golden Finance

The current resistance level is $45,000, and Bitcoin’s market dominance has also begun to fall back from 53.95% to 53.17%, as shown in the figure below , altcoin market dominance (TOTAL2) rose at the same time.

1-day chart of Bitcoin dominance vs altcoin dominance. Source: TradingView

Traders who use technical analysis often view the combination of Bitcoin’s market share decline and Bitcoin’s price entering range trading or price consolidation as possible signs that altcoin prices may breakout .

In addition, technical traders often cite the interaction between the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) and Bitcoin price as an indicator of sentiment. Currently, DXY is down 1.56% for the month, while Bitcoin price has maintained a gain of 16.18% during the same period.

Bitcoin price and US dollar index. 3 day chart. Source: TradingView

Many traders believe the reversal in the U.S. dollar index was largely influenced by recent comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the Federal Open Market Committee minutes, suggesting there could be three in 2024 Cut interest rates.

Overall sentiment on crypto assets remains on the verge of optimism amid expectations that a spot Bitcoin ETF will be approved in the first quarter of 2024 and the market’s belief that the Fed’s interest rate hike regime is over.

Solana and Avalanche hit new highs in 2023

According to Cointelegraph analyst Marcel Pechman , several network-related technical factors are pushing the price of SOL closer to $100. On December 20, SOL surpassed XRP in market capitalization and became the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization (excluding stablecoins).

An important factor driving the price increase of SOL is Solana’s improvements in user experience, especially in the launch of tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The network focuses on accessibility on mobile devices, as highlighted by its mobile platform @solanamobile, which attracts more new users who focus on ease of use rather than other factors such as decentralization.

The current increase in SOL price is partly due to the enthusiasm for the airdrop campaign, the listing of the newly launched SPL token JITO on major exchanges and its subsequent success. Shortly after trading began, JITO’s market capitalization exceeded $300 million. In addition to these factors,SOL’s recent rally has been supported by the growth of decentralized applications (DApps) on the Solana network.

The top blockchains by number of DApps in the past 7 days. Source: DappRadar

In just over three weeks, the total value locked (TVL) on Solana has grown from $654 million to $1.28 billion, an increase of 96%. This growth outpaces its competitors, with the number of unique active addresses interacting with Solana’s DApp also showing significant growth.

A similar trend is occurring in the Avalanche ecosystem, with the increase in DApp users, incentives from various DeFi protocols, and continued rumors about airdrops leading to increases in capital inflows, daily active users, and AVAX price.

AVAX prices compared to Avalanche daily active users. 1 year term. Source: Token Terminal