Bitcoin Dominance Calculator
How This Works
Bitcoin dominance is calculated as Bitcoin's market cap divided by the total crypto market cap (with or without stablecoins). This tool shows you both versions.
Key Insight: Including stablecoins (USDT, USDC) reduces Bitcoin dominance by ~10-15%. Excluding them shows the "real" crypto sentiment.
CoinMarketCap style: Includes $150B+ stablecoins which inflate total market cap
Results
Bitcoin dominance isn’t just a number on a chart-it’s a heartbeat for the entire crypto market. Right now, Bitcoin controls over 60% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, its highest level in four years. That means more than half of every dollar invested in crypto is sitting in Bitcoin. But what does that actually mean for you? If you’re holding altcoins, are you missing out? If you’re all in on Bitcoin, are you playing it too safe? Let’s cut through the noise.
How Bitcoin Dominance Is Calculated
Bitcoin dominance is simple math: Bitcoin’s market cap divided by the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies, multiplied by 100. So if Bitcoin is worth $1.2 trillion and the entire crypto market is worth $2 trillion, Bitcoin dominance is 60%.
Market cap for any coin is just price multiplied by how many coins are circulating. Easy. But here’s where it gets messy: not everyone agrees on what counts as part of the total market cap.
CoinMarketCap, the original source of this metric, includes stablecoins like USDT and USDC. That adds nearly $150 billion to the total. But stablecoins aren’t crypto in the way Bitcoin or Ethereum are-they’re digital dollars. They don’t rise or fall based on adoption or tech. They’re pegged to the US dollar. So if you’re trying to measure real crypto sentiment, including them distorts the picture.
Platforms like Bitbo exclude stablecoins. When you do that, Bitcoin dominance often jumps to 70% or higher. TradingView lets you toggle between both versions. If you’re making trading decisions, you need to know which version you’re looking at. One tells you how much capital is flowing into digital assets overall. The other tells you how much is flowing into actual decentralized cryptocurrencies.
Why Bitcoin Dominance Matters More Than Price
Most people watch Bitcoin’s price. They cheer when it hits $70,000 or panic when it drops to $50,000. But price alone doesn’t tell you what’s really happening in the market. Bitcoin dominance does.
Think of it like this: when Bitcoin dominance rises, money is flowing into Bitcoin and out of altcoins. When it falls, investors are moving money into Ethereum, Solana, or whatever new coin is trending. It’s not about which coin is doing better-it’s about where the money is going.
During the 2021 bull run, Bitcoin dominance dropped below 40%. That’s when meme coins and DeFi tokens exploded. People weren’t just buying Bitcoin-they were chasing high-risk, high-reward plays. But in early 2022, as markets turned sour, dominance climbed back above 50%. Investors ran for safety. Bitcoin was the only thing that held its value.
Right now, in late 2025, dominance is hovering near 62%. That’s not a bubble. It’s a sign of caution. Traders aren’t chasing shiny new tokens. They’re sticking with what’s proven.
What Low Bitcoin Dominance Tells You
Low Bitcoin dominance-say, below 45%-is a red flag for risk. It doesn’t mean altcoins are doomed. It means investors are betting big on speculation. In 2021, when dominance hit 38%, we saw Dogecoin surge, NFTs blow up, and hundreds of new Layer 1 blockchains launch. Most of them collapsed within a year.
Low dominance means the market is overheating. People are buying altcoins because they’re going up, not because they have real use cases. It’s a classic sign of FOMO. And when that hype fades, capital rushes back to Bitcoin.
That’s why professional traders watch dominance like a thermometer. A sudden drop in dominance isn’t a signal to buy altcoins-it’s a signal to watch for a correction. The altcoin season rarely lasts more than 6-9 months. When dominance starts rising again, it’s usually the beginning of the end for those runs.
What High Bitcoin Dominance Tells You
High dominance-above 60%-isn’t boring. It’s strategic. It means investors are prioritizing security over speculation. Bitcoin has the deepest liquidity, the most institutional backing, and the strongest network effect. When uncertainty rises-whether from regulation, inflation, or global instability-money flows to Bitcoin.
In 2023, after the FTX collapse, Bitcoin dominance jumped from 45% to 58% in under three months. Investors didn’t flee crypto. They just moved to the safest part of it.
High dominance also means altcoins are undervalued. If Bitcoin is strong and the total market cap is rising, altcoins are likely to catch up later. That’s why some investors use high dominance as a buying opportunity for altcoins-not to trade them now, but to accumulate for the next cycle.
How Traders Use Bitcoin Dominance to Time the Market
Professional traders don’t guess. They use patterns. One common strategy is the dominance cycle:
- Bitcoin dominance bottoms out (around 35-40%) during a strong altcoin rally.
- Altcoins pump hard for 3-6 months.
- Bitcoin starts to outperform. Dominance begins rising.
- Altcoins stop rising and start falling as capital rotates back to Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin dominance peaks (60%+), signaling the end of the altcoin season.
- Bitcoin enters a consolidation or breakout phase. The cycle repeats.
This isn’t magic. It’s human behavior. People get greedy during bull runs. They chase returns. But when things get shaky, they retreat to the most trusted asset. Bitcoin dominance tracks that shift in real time.
Some traders buy altcoins when dominance is high and Bitcoin is flat, betting that the next bull run will start with altcoins. Others wait for dominance to drop below 50% before buying Bitcoin, assuming the altcoin mania is over and Bitcoin will lead the next leg up.
Stablecoins: The Hidden Variable
You can’t talk about Bitcoin dominance without talking about stablecoins. They make up nearly 8% of the total crypto market cap. That’s bigger than the entire market cap of Ethereum in 2020.
When stablecoins are included, the total market cap looks bigger. Bitcoin dominance looks lower. But stablecoins aren’t growing because people love them-they’re growing because people need them to trade. You can’t buy Ethereum with USD on Binance. You need USDT.
So when you see the total market cap spike, it’s often not because more people are buying Bitcoin or Solana. It’s because traders are depositing more USDT to trade. That inflates the number but doesn’t reflect real crypto adoption.
That’s why serious analysts prefer the stablecoin-excluded version. It cuts through the noise. If Bitcoin dominance is rising without stablecoin inflation, that’s real money moving into Bitcoin. That’s conviction.
What This Means for You
Here’s the bottom line:
- If you’re holding altcoins and Bitcoin dominance is rising, don’t panic. It doesn’t mean your coins are worthless-it means the market is resetting.
- If you’re only holding Bitcoin and dominance is at 60%, you’re not missing out. You’re in the safest part of the market.
- If you’re thinking of jumping into a new altcoin, check dominance first. If it’s below 50%, you might be entering at the top of a hype cycle.
- If you’re waiting to buy Bitcoin, don’t wait for it to hit $100,000. Watch dominance. When it drops below 55% and starts climbing again, that’s often the best time to buy.
The crypto market doesn’t move on headlines. It moves on capital flow. Bitcoin dominance is the clearest, most reliable indicator of where that flow is going. Ignore it, and you’re trading blind.
Where to Track It
You don’t need fancy tools. Just pick one source and stick with it:
- TradingView - Best for charting. Use both versions (with and without stablecoins) and compare.
- Bitbo - Cleanest data. Excludes stablecoins. Great for long-term analysis.
- CoinMarketCap - The original. Good for historical context, but include stablecoins in your mental model.
Set up a simple alert: when Bitcoin dominance crosses 65% or drops below 50%, pause and ask yourself: is this a signal, or just noise?
What does it mean if Bitcoin dominance is rising?
A rising Bitcoin dominance means more money is flowing into Bitcoin and out of altcoins. It usually signals conservative investor sentiment, often during market uncertainty or after an altcoin rally. Investors are choosing safety over speculation.
Is Bitcoin dominance a good indicator for buying altcoins?
It can be, but only in specific conditions. When Bitcoin dominance is high (above 60%) and the total market cap is stable or rising, it often means altcoins are undervalued and may catch up later. Don’t buy altcoins when dominance is falling-that’s usually the peak of hype. Wait for dominance to stabilize or start rising again before considering altcoin accumulation.
Why do some platforms exclude stablecoins from Bitcoin dominance calculations?
Stablecoins like USDT and USDC are pegged to the US dollar and don’t represent true crypto value. They’re used as trading pairs, not investments. Including them inflates the total market cap and makes Bitcoin dominance look lower than it really is. Excluding them gives a clearer picture of actual crypto market sentiment.
Can Bitcoin dominance stay high forever?
No. Bitcoin dominance has cycled between 30% and 70% for over a decade. It rises during risk-off periods and falls during speculative booms. Even if Bitcoin remains the dominant asset, altcoins will always attract capital when new technology emerges or investor appetite for risk increases. The cycle repeats.
Should I sell my altcoins if Bitcoin dominance is rising?
Not necessarily. Selling based on dominance alone is a mistake. If your altcoins have strong fundamentals-real use cases, active development, growing adoption-you can hold. But if you bought them purely because they were pumping, rising dominance is a sign to reassess. Consider taking profits and moving some capital into Bitcoin as a hedge.
