Bitcoin Holds Steady At $35,000 As Altcoin Investments Surge, Supporting BTC's Price

Bitcoin continued to impress investors by maintaining its value above the $35,000 threshold early Monday, highlighting a massive 110% surge in its value since January of this year.

Last week exhibited a steady price action for the king of crypto, which closed at $35,000, marking a 1.4% increase compared to the previous week's closing price.

After five weeks of consistent growth, Bitcoin, the world's first-ever crypto asset and the largest by market capitalization, saw a decrease in dominance, closing the week at 53% compared to the previous week's 54.1%.

The recent shift in Bitcoin dominance suggests that new investors are entering the market following a prolonged period of market downtrend, according to Matteo Greco, a Research Analyst at the publicly listed digital asset and fintech investment business Fineqia International.

"The rise in BTC dominance over the past few weeks resulted from investors exiting various altcoin positions and shifting their focus to BTC, anticipating the opportunity to redirect these funds into emerging altcoins for the upcoming cycle. The decline in dominance after five consecutive weeks of increase marks the first signs of heightened investor interest in altcoins, indicating a riskier market stance," Greco explained in a note sent to International Business Times.

"This trend is evident in the Total3 metric, representing the total digital asset market cap excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, which currently stands at around $383.7 billion, the highest level since mid-April 2023. This shows an increased investor focus on riskier, less liquid assets, common during periods of restored market confidence," the research analyst added.

The hype surrounding the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings is still alive, according to Greco, with the regulator's approval expected to attract significant investments from the traditional finance sector, while a rejection is predicted to have a short-term negative impact.

"The focus remains on BTC Spot ETF filings, with the impending final decision on the 21Shares filing by the SEC and other mirrored filings, expected in just a couple of months. The deadline for the decision on the 21Shares application is set for January 10, 2024, with expectations that the SEC will either accept or reject all applications due to their similarity, without granting a first-mover advantage to any issuer," the Fineqia International research analyst explained.

"An SEC approval would likely attract substantial investments from traditional finance, inviting high-net-worth investors and further solidifying digital assets as a widely accepted asset class. Conversely, a rejection would likely yield a short-term negative impact, given the existing investor confidence that approval is on the horizon, partly factored into current market sentiment," Greco added.

As of 1:20 p.m. ET on Monday, BTC was trading in the red zone at $34,952.25, with a 24-hour trading volume up by 21.13% at $13,618,902,571, representing a 0.75% decrease in the last 24 hours and a 1.5% gain over the past seven days.

Data from CoinMarketCap revealed that Bitcoin's total circulating supply stands at 19,534,937 BTC, with its value down by 0.70% at a $682,458,905,090 market cap.