Bitcoin now makes up just under half of the $1 trillion crypto market, according to data from CoinGecko.
In January, Bitcoin’s market share stood at about 38%, according to Bloomberg, but it has since jumped to 48.5% as investors have fled some alternative coins in favor of the perceived safety of the original cryptocurrency.
The ongoing trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has drawn attention to the pitfalls of bad actors in the crypto industry, but it hasn’t stopped investors from slowly putting more money into digital assets, which could see even greater investor interest because of rising geopolitical risk.
About $78 million poured into digital asset investment products last week, the largest inflows since July, according to a report from CoinShares. Bitcoin received the majority of that investment, with $43 million in inflows over the week.
However, Ether, the second most popular cryptocurrency, saw lackluster investment last week, according to CoinShares, even as six futures-based Ethereum ETFs launched in the U.S. In total, the new ETFs brought in just $10 million from investors. Ether’s market dominance has also fallen to about 17% from 19% in January.
Comparatively, the first Bitcoin futures ETFs—launched in the U.S. in 2021—brought in $1 billion, although the CoinShares report noted that investor interest in digital currencies was much higher at that point compared to now.
A bright spot for alternative currencies last week was inflows to Solana, a coin that was heavily endorsed by Bankman-Fried. The cryptocurrency notched its highest weekly inflows since March 2022, at $24 million, according to CoinShares.
Bitcoin and Ether were both down less than 1% on Tuesday afternoon. Bitcoin was trading around $27,300 and Ether around $1,500, according to CoinGecko.