In a remarkable development, Bitcoin has surpassed the 50% mark in the crypto market for the first time since April 2021, indicating the possibility of a pre-halving bull market for the most valuable cryptocurrency.
Data from TradingView reveals that Bitcoin now accounts for 50.06% of the combined market capitalization of the top 125 digital assets, showcasing BTC’s resilience amidst the recent altcoin slump.
Bitcoin’s market share experienced a significant drop from nearly 70% at the beginning of 2021 and fluctuated between 40% and 48%.
As the following Bitcoin halving approaches within the next ten months, Bitcoin has displayed superior performance. Each halving event occurs every four years, and the rate of new BTC issued to Proof of Work miners is halved, historically leading to new all-time highs for Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market.
The Bitcoin network generates 6.25 BTC per block, equivalent to approximately 900 BTC daily. However, after the upcoming halving, projected to occur in late April 2024, the number of new Bitcoins entering circulation with each block will decrease to 3.125.
In the last week, among the top 100 digital assets based on market capitalization, Bitcoin (BTC) had a 2.7% increase and ranked 20th in performance. This was an erratic market period where only 29 out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies marked more than a 1% rise.
Since the beginning of 2021, Bitcoin has seen an impressive increase of 68%. This large jump in value has generated speculation that a “bull market” could be just around the corner, as per the BTC price prediction.
The cost of Bitcoin is strongly associated with important advancements, such as BlackRock’s petition for a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), more digital tokens being managed on its chain, and major investors making significant investments.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of America received a proposal for a Bitcoin ETF on June 15 from BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $8.6 trillion in assets. Coinbase, one of the most influential centralized exchanges based in the US, could be used for Bitcoin custody and price information services, while BNY Mellon would be its cash custodian.
In accordance with regulations, individual investors will be able to purchase and trade Bitcoin through established exchanges if a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is approved by the SEC. Although many requests for approval have been submitted, the SEC has not taken an official decision.
As of April, more than 350,000 transactions were processed daily through Bitcoin, a record number. The increasing popularity of digital currencies and the development of new applications for the Bitcoin blockchain, including Ordinals and BRC-20 token standards, can be attributed to this trend.
A total of 131,600 new Bitcoins worth $3.5 billion have been added to the holdings of whale investors who own between 1,000 and 10,000 Bitcoins since April 4. This large increase has led to the overall holdings of whales rising to a seven-month high.
While Ethereum (ETH) dropped to $1,630 on Friday, its value has grown by 44% since the start of 2021.
Due to a decline in meme coin trading and an 80% decline in NFTs, Ethereum’s blockchain activity has decreased significantly since March. Interestingly, Ethereum has almost been able to match the amount of token supply issued within the past seven days when it comes to “burning” (removing tokens from circulation).
