Bitcoin’s (BTC) 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 (ETH) 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.