Ether (ETH) has rallied above $2,000 after the successful Shanghai upgrade, which occurred late Wednesday. This has caused a drop in Bitcoin’s (BTC) dominance from an almost two-year record high, according to TradingView data.
The BTC dominance rate rose to as high as 49.06% early Wednesday, before retreating to 48.12% as ETH’s price rose. The last time the metric was around the 49% level happened in July 2021, some 21 months ago.
ETH dominance, on the other hand, surged to 19.87% on Thursday, marking a one-month high. This means that Ether’s improved performance has reduced Bitcoin’s share of the crypto market.
The shift has come after the Ethereum network’s long-awaited tech upgrade, also called Shanghai or Shapella, was deployed without a hitch late Wednesday.
It is important to note that the BTC dominance rate is the BTC market capitalization’s share of the total market cap of the cryptocurrency market.
The metric is important to assess the relative strength of BTC, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, compared to the broader crypto market, or identify periods when altcoins outperform, also known as an altcoin season. Similarly, Ether dominance shows the second largest cryptocurrency’s relative value to the crypto market.
With Ether’s surge in price and dominance, it is evident that the market is shifting away from Bitcoin and towards altcoins.
This may be due to the improved performance of the Ethereum network and its ability to handle more transactions. Additionally, there may be a growing interest in other cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin, as investors seek to diversify their portfolios.
