Bitcoin Dominance Reaches All-Time Lows As The Merge Nears

The mythical merge is almost here. Ethereum’s transition from Proof-Of-Work to Proof-Of-Stake is the most talked about event in crypto at the moment, and money is flowing to that blockchain. That, in turn, translated into a decrease in bitcoin dominance. That metric measures the percentage of the whole crypto market that bitcoin represents, and it’s currently “down at levels not seen since 2018.” Which makes sense. Because the merge is almost here and everyone placed their bets.

According to Arcane Research’s The Weekly Update, “the all-time low occurred during the ICO craze in January 2018.” Which makes sense, because ICOs were the talk of the town at the moment. That impetus eventually fizzled out, however. Can we expect the same out of the merge? On the one hand, this is a structural change on Ethereum as a whole, so it’s more important than ICOs ever were. On the other hand, stakes are higher and there are no guarantees that the merge will work out as planned.

The Merge Isn’t The Only Factor

Before advancing, let’s explore Arcane Research’s stats:

“September has started with varying returns among our indexes. Bitcoin has started the month the worst and is down 1%. All other indexes are in the positive territory, with the Large Caps gaining 1%, the Small Caps 2%, and the Mid Caps 7%.”

So, everyone and their mothers gained ground on bitcoin these last few weeks. Especially the Mid Caps, with Ethereum Classic as an unlikely leader. This almost forgotten cryptocurrency is also gaining ground because of the merge. When Ethereum turns from Proof-Of-Work to Proof-Of-Stake, a whole industry will disappear. The new system doesn’t require miners, so all of them are exploring their options and the original Ethereum seems to be the big winner in this scenario.

However, there’s another Classic cryptocurrency that grew even more. Back to The Weekly Update:

“While the large caps’ performances have been mostly flat over the previous seven days, we see massive increases in some of the smaller coins. Terra Luna Classic surged by 222% amid plans to revive the chain, while Ethereum Classic increased by 20%.”

So, even though it’s a big factor, it’s not all about the merge. Arcane Research offers even another important factor:

“An essential caveat of the bitcoin dominance sitting close to an alltime low is that stablecoins are far more significant now than the last time bitcoin showed this low dominance. Excluding the USDT and USDC from the equation, we see that bitcoin still makes up half of the crypto market.”

Market Cap BTC Dominance on CryptoCap ETHUSD September 6, 2022

According to Arcane Research’s The Weekly Update, “the all-time low occurred during the ICO craze in January 2018.” Which makes sense, because ICOs were the talk of the town at the moment. That impetus eventually fizzled out, however. Can we expect the same out of the merge? On the one hand, this is a structural change on Ethereum as a whole, so it’s more important than ICOs ever were. On the other hand, stakes are higher and there are no guarantees that the merge will work out as planned.

The Merge Isn’t The Only Factor

Before advancing, let’s explore Arcane Research’s stats:

“September has started with varying returns among our indexes. Bitcoin has started the month the worst and is down 1%. All other indexes are in the positive territory, with the Large Caps gaining 1%, the Small Caps 2%, and the Mid Caps 7%.”

So, everyone and their mothers gained ground on bitcoin these last few weeks. Especially the Mid Caps, with Ethereum Classic as an unlikely leader. This almost forgotten cryptocurrency is also gaining ground because of the merge. When Ethereum turns from Proof-Of-Work to Proof-Of-Stake, a whole industry will disappear. The new system doesn’t require miners, so all of them are exploring their options and the original Ethereum seems to be the big winner in this scenario.

However, there’s another Classic cryptocurrency that grew even more. Back to The Weekly Update:

“While the large caps’ performances have been mostly flat over the previous seven days, we see massive increases in some of the smaller coins. Terra Luna Classic surged by 222% amid plans to revive the chain, while Ethereum Classic increased by 20%.”

So, even though it’s a big factor, it’s not all about the merge. Arcane Research offers even another important factor:

“An essential caveat of the bitcoin dominance sitting close to an alltime low is that stablecoins are far more significant now than the last time bitcoin showed this low dominance. Excluding the USDT and USDC from the equation, we see that bitcoin still makes up half of the crypto market.”

Market Cap BTC Dominance on CryptoCap