Bitcoin dominance is bitcoin's share of the total crypto market cap. Traders use it to see whether money is concentrating in bitcoin or spreading out to other coins.
The formula
Dominance (%) = bitcoin market cap ÷ total crypto market cap × 100
If the total market is $3 trillion and bitcoin is $1.8 trillion, dominance is 60% (made-up numbers to show the math). Charting sites often list it as BTC.D.
How to read it
Dominance is a ratio, so read it together with bitcoin's price. These are common readings, not rules.
| Bitcoin price | Dominance | Common reading |
|---|---|---|
| Up | Up | Money concentrating in bitcoin |
| Up | Down | Altcoins rising faster |
| Down | Up | Altcoins falling harder |
| Down | Down | Bitcoin falling harder |
Where it misleads
- Stablecoins sit in the denominator. When traders rotate from coins into stablecoins, the total barely shrinks, so dominance can misstate bitcoin's strength. That's why people also watch dominance excluding stablecoins.
- Sites disagree. They include different coins in the total, so figures can differ by a few points.
- New listings shift it. The share can move even when no money rotates, simply because the set of coins changed.
Dominance and altcoin season
A stretch when dominance falls while altcoins rally is often called altcoin season. Dominance alone isn't enough to call one, though. You also want to see most altcoins beating bitcoin. See altcoin season signals.
The WhaleCue Sectors and Indexes screens show where money is moving.
FAQ
Does high dominance mean I should buy bitcoin? No. It describes bitcoin's current share and says nothing certain about future prices.
Is there an ether dominance too? Yes. It's the same calculation using ether's market cap.
This isn't investment advice. Always make your own decisions.