Bitcoin has reached 50% of the total cryptocurrency market cap for the first time in two years, coinciding with Blackrock’s spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s scrutiny on altcoins. The recent episode of The Market Report by Cointelegraph discusses the probable causes behind this price action.
Analyst Marcel Pechman highlights that no one expected Bitcoin to become the second-largest nonfungible token blockchain, but it has. Moreover, Pechman raises concerns about Glassnode’s “The Week On-Chain” report, which indicates that Bitcoin sideways price action may last 18 months.
Pechman argues that calling the pre-halving period “sideways boredom” is not reasonable because traders’ livelihoods depend on these spikes and corrections. He also mentions that Michael Saylor’s call for 80% market dominance depends on decentralized finance moving to the Bitcoin network, which seems unlikely without infrastructure for smart contracts on Bitcoin, regardless of a second layer. Lastly, Pechman discusses Deutsche Bank’s digital asset custody license application, indicating that we are still some way from accepting Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) deposits as collateral for international shipping or originating loans.