Bitcoin Devours Altcoins Reaching 59% Dominance As Whale Activity Increases

On October 17, om-chain analytics platform Santiment reported that Bitcoin whale transactions have increased to their highest level in over ten weeks.

There were 11,697 transfers worth more than $100,000 on October 15th and the 16th was also shaping up to be a peak day for whale activity.

The platform also noted that social media content has “skewed heavily towards BTC over altcoins,” accounting for more than a quarter of all discussions.

Bitcoin Domain Peaks

Santiment concluded that these two signals are indications that “the rally may be on hold due to profit-taking by key stakeholders and the large influx of FOMO.” Longer-term metrics look bullish, so any pullback is likely to be short-lived, he added.

Bitcoin whale transactions have surged to their highest level in over 10 weeks, with 11,697 transfers of $100,000+ on the network on Tuesday, also on track to hit a new high on Wednesday.

️ Also, social media conversations have shifted heavily to BTC over… pic.twitter.com/Izhq6JeaAd

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) October 16, 2024

Market sentiment has also returned to “greed,” according to the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index, which hit 73 on Wednesday, the highest since late July. Another consequence of this week’s market rally is a multi-year high for Bitcoin dominance.

The metric hit a three-and-a-half-year high of 58.98% on Oct. 16, according to Tradingview. It is the largest market share the asset has had since April 2021.

In a post on X on October 16, ITC Crypto founder Benjamin Cowen predicted that Bitcoin’s dominance would peak at around 60% between now and December before falling in 2025.

“I think it’s more likely to go above 60% than not get there,” he added, referring to altcoin/BTC pairs remaining weak.

I still think this is the most likely scenario. #BTC Dominance reaches ~60% between September and December 2024 and then declines in 2025.

Obviously I don’t know the *exact* top.

But I think it’s more likely to go over 60% than not get there, especially with #ALT / #BTC couples still… https://t.co/xuXOGcMHMW pic.twitter.com/YtsvBK2GZt

— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) October 16, 2024

Industry adviser Dan Held said the breakdown has come “as buyers squeeze out sellers.” He added that the macro fundamentals were “awesome”, liquidity was about to flood the market and most of the FUD from foreign exchange distributions and government selling had been wiped out.

“Once we break all-time highs, retail sales pick up, and then we officially have a bull run.”

BTC Price Outlook

Bitcoin hit a ten-week high of $68,250 on October 16, pushing its weekly gains to 11%. It pulled back to trade at $67,400 during Thursday morning’s Asian session, but momentum remains.

The asset is now just $1,500 away from the psychological level of its previous peak of $69,000 at the end of 2021.

Analyst ‘Rekt Capital’ also believes that the sideways/bearish trend has broken with this latest higher high.

#BTC

Bitcoin resumed its uptrend$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin https://t.co/SLvZpzRv62 pic.twitter.com/zwWYmSVrb2

— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) October 16, 2024

Meanwhile, most altcoins remain flat or in the red again as Bitcoin continues to eat them up and increase its own slice of the crypto market pie.

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