Crypto · Market structure
Bitcoin dominance tests 61% as altcoins fall faster than bitcoin: what the ratio says, why sites disagree and what it means for traders
Bitcoin's market share is testing 61% while ETH, XRP and SOL drop 14-20% in a week. What the dominance signal shows, and what it does not.
Bitcoin is down this week, yet it is quietly winning. Its share of the whole crypto market is pressing against a level it has failed to hold for more than a year, because most altcoins are falling even faster. If you hold anything other than BTC, this one ratio may matter more right now than the bitcoin price itself.
Key takeaways
- Bitcoin dominance reached 60.98% on TradingView data, its highest since May 2026, BeInCrypto reported on 12 November.
- In the past 7 days bitcoin fell 8.5%, while Ethereum fell 15.5% and XRP 20.2% (CoinGecko, 12 November).
- CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season Index stood at 39, far below the 75 needed for an "altcoin season", per BeInCrypto.
- Different data sites show different dominance numbers. Watch the direction, not one exact figure.
What bitcoin dominance actually measures
Dominance is simple: bitcoin's market value divided by the value of the whole crypto market. It does not need anyone to buy bitcoin to rise. If BTC drops 8% and the rest of the market drops 15%, bitcoin's share still goes up.
That is exactly what happened this week. According to CoinGecko data at 13:14 Macau time on 12 November, the total crypto market was worth about $2.46 trillion, down 2.9% in 24 hours.
| Coin | Price (USD) | 7-day change | 30-day change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | 73,487 | -8.5% | -11.5% |
| Ethereum | 2,041.20 | -15.5% | -18.2% |
| XRP | 1.038 | -20.2% | -23.6% |
| Solana | 82.69 | -13.7% | -22.7% |
| BNB | 673.77 | -5.4% | -8.9% |
| Dogecoin | 0.0669 | -12.7% | -20.3% |
Source: CoinGecko, 12 November 2026, 13:14 UTC+8.
Why 61% is the level everyone is watching
BeInCrypto notes that dominance has struggled to stay above 60.5% since August 2025, with three failed attempts. This time the weekly Supertrend indicator on the BTC.D chart has turned bullish for the first time since February 2025.
There is a counterpoint in the same analysis. On the daily chart, dominance sits at the top of its rising channel, where earlier rallies stalled. A rejection could pull it back towards 60%. A weekly close above 61% would point the other way.
Our angle: three things the headline number hides
1. Your website changes the answer. CoinGecko put bitcoin's share at 59.87% at the same moment TradingView-based charts showed about 61%. Each site counts a different list of coins, so the total market (the bottom of the fraction) differs. Compare a site only with itself.
2. Stablecoins inflate the "rest of the market". On CoinGecko, Tether (7.11%) and USDC (2.81%) make up almost 10% of total crypto value. Strip them out and bitcoin is about 66% of the non-stablecoin market (our calculation). In a sell-off, cash parked in stablecoins can push BTC dominance down even when altcoins are not recovering at all.
3. ETH/BTC tells the rotation story faster. Using CoinGecko prices, one ETH bought about 0.0278 BTC on 12 November. Working back from the 7-day changes, it was about 0.0301 BTC a week earlier: a drop of roughly 7.6% (our calculation). Ethereum often leads altcoin rallies, so a falling ETH/BTC ratio is a quick sign that money is not rotating out of bitcoin yet.
A worked example: what the gap cost
Imagine $1,000 put into crypto a week ago, using CoinGecko's 7-day changes:
- All in bitcoin: about $915.
- Half bitcoin, half ether: about $880.
- All in XRP: about $798.
Spread across coins did not reduce the loss this week. It increased it, because altcoins tend to move further than bitcoin in both directions. That is why many traders size altcoin positions smaller than BTC positions; see our guide to position sizing.
What would change the picture
According to BeInCrypto, CoinMarketCap's 30-day Altcoin Season Index was 24, even weaker than the 90-day reading. Signs worth watching:
- A weekly close for BTC dominance back below 60%.
- ETH/BTC rising for several days instead of one-day bounces.
- The Altcoin Season Index climbing from the 30s towards 75.
None of these is a guarantee. Dominance is a description of what has already happened, not a forecast.
Conclusion
Bitcoin is falling, but the rest of the market is falling harder, and dominance near 61% is the scoreboard showing it. For traders, the practical lesson is to check relative strength, not just price: ETH/BTC and the dominance trend on one consistent data source. Until those turn, the data says the market still prefers bitcoin when it takes risk.
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Sources
- BeInCrypto, Bitcoin Dominance Tests 61% Breakout, and That's Bad News for Altcoins, 12 November 2026
- CoinGecko, global crypto market data (market cap shares), 12 November 2026 13:14 UTC+8
- CoinGecko, coin market data (prices, 7-day and 30-day change), 12 November 2026 13:14 UTC+8
- CoinMarketCap, Altcoin Season Index
Not financial advice. This article is for general information and education only. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any asset. Prices move quickly and figures quoted may already be out of date; markets involve risk, including the loss of capital. See our disclaimer.