Bitcoin’s dominance relative to altcoins has fallen to its lowest point in 12 months, with the leading cryptocurrency representing 61% of the $359.5 billion combined cryptocurrency capitalization.
Bitcoin’s dominance has slid from over 67% as of mid-May, and is down from a local high of 69.9% during September of last year — the strongest moment for BTC dominance since the first quarter of 2017.
Bitcoin dominance: CoinMarketCap
Altcoins recapture dominance
Bitcoin’s relative decline in dominance comes as the collective crypto market cap tests major resistance amid pushing into 12-month highs.
An extra $11 billion in value would see the combined crypto capitalization break above $370 billion for the first time since May 2018.
Total market cap of all crypto assets since 2017: CoinMarketCap
Altcoin trading heats up on Binance Futures
Despite the strength of Bitcoin’s July rally into five-figure prices, the month saw the combined capitalization of altcoins tag $140 billion for the first time in 24 months.
Altcoin market cap since 2017: CoinMarketCap
Binance’s July trading report also shows renewed strength in the altcoin markets, with altcoins growing from roughly 32% to represent 40% of volume on Binance Futures.
Binance attributed the strong performance of altcoins to the growing popularity of Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and Ether accumulation in anticipation of ETH staking.
Ethereum and DeFi drives alt season
July saw the value of assets locked in DeFi double from $2 billion to $4 billion.
According to CoinMarketCap, the 10-largest DeFi tokens represent a market cap of roughly $7 billion. The top-10 DeFi tokens all comprise top 50 crypto assets.