Bitcoin Dominance Rises to 59% as Altcoins Lag

• Bitcoin dominance nears 59% as altcoins lag behind amid rising volatility.
• Whale unrealized losses point to a potential market inflection zone.
• Nearly 95% of BTC holders in profit heightens the risk of profit-taking.

Bitcoin’s market dominance rose to about 59% today, October 14 2025, while the broader market showed strain and altcoins failed to regain momentum. 

BTC eased close to 3% in 24 hours to trade near $112,000, yet Bitcoin’s share of total crypto value increased. Altcoin Season Index marked 34, which signaled altcoin underperformance versus BTC. 

Highlighting the day’s market momentum, analyst Benjamin Cowen maintained that BTC dominance can only lead to rise from here.

Why ETF and risk-off flows favor Bitcoin

Dominance tends to climb in uncertain or consolidating phases. Capital rotates from speculative altcoins to Bitcoin for depth and execution quality. 

Institutional risk appetite stayed soft, which kept altcoin bids light. Cooling flows into Bitcoin ETFs since mid-year reduced the overall market bid, but BTC still drew the relative preference inside crypto as investors favored the most liquid book.

Whale metrics and profit supply proves trader preference to BTC. Glassnode data showed that over 90% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply remains in profit even after the latest correction, indicating that the recent dip was not driven by widespread panic but rather by leveraged traders being flushed out.

Recent on-chain data from CryptoQuant indicates that newer whale investors, those who accumulated at least 1,000 BTC in the past five months,  are now sitting on unrealized losses. 

Related: Bitcoin Price Prediction: Analysts Eye $125K Rebound As Sovereign Wealth Funds Buy The Dip

Historically, such periods of negative unrealized profit ratios among large holders come alongside market bottoms. These moments often precede increased volatility.

As per CEO Ki Young Ju, the signal does not reveal whether the next move will be upward or downward, but reveals growing pressure on short-term whale positions. 

Interestingly, dominance tends to rise during uncertain or consolidating phases, as capital retreats from speculative altcoins into the perceived safety of Bitcoin.

Profit-Taking and Rotations Cloud the Outlook

Market data shows that nearly 95% of BTC holders remain in profit, a level that, in past cycles, often preceded corrections. When a majority of investors find themselves in gains, the temptation to secure profits typically intensifies.

At the same time, long-dormant wallets are becoming active again. Large holders who have stayed inactive for years are now moving coins, a behavior that historically coincides with the distribution phase of market cycles. 

These moves suggest that early investors may be offloading portions of their holdings while newer entrants continue to buy near the highs.

In previous cycles, such transitions began with Bitcoin consolidating near its highs, followed by a brief drop in dominance as capital shifted into Ethereum and later into smaller-cap altcoins. 

For now, however, altcoins appear unable to break out as the market’s risk appetite remains subdued, partly due to cooling institutional inflows into Bitcoin ETFs since mid-year.

What happened last week for this market context: Trump Tariffs Spark $19 Billion Crypto Liquidations in 24 Hours