The cryptocurrency market is witnessing a shift in dominance as Bitcoin‘s market share has dropped from 53.1% to 51.5% over the past two weeks. Bitcoin’s steady trading range between $34,000 and $36,000 has led to this decline. At the same time, non-ether altcoins have shown strong performance, contributing to this shift.
Of particular note is the altcoin Solana (SOL), which posted a significant 41% gain on Tuesday. This surge coincided with two major events: the Breakpoint conference and the launch of the Firedancer upgrade testnet for Solana‘s blockchain. Despite these positive developments, some analysts see this rise as a rebound from Solana’s previous loss of value due to last year’s FTX collapse, and attribute the surge largely to market hype.
However, while Bitcoin’s dominance is shrinking, interest in it among traders remains high. CME traders have increased their exposure to bitcoin in recent weeks, pushing open interest to new highs of 105,000 BTC ($3.7 billion). This growth has been significantly influenced by weekly inflows into ProShares’ BITO, a futures-based ETF.
CME premiums for both bitcoin and ether rose to 16% annualized last week. December expirations are currently trading at a 1% premium to November, maintaining consistency in bitcoin and ether CME premiums for the second week in a row.
Despite strong call demand, which increases the cost of bullish bitcoin exposure in the options market, implied volatility remains below its three-year average. Since bitcoin’s rally to $35,000, offshore perpetual swap funding rates have remained neutral. This indicates a shift away from bearish sentiment and suggests caution against excessive leverage among traders.
