Bitcoin Dominance Hits 66% as Altcoins Struggle

Blockstream Co-Founder and CEO Adam Back has advised altcoin investors to shift their focus towards Bitcoin treasury stocks, as Bitcoin's dominance in the market has reached a new cycle high of 66%. Back emphasized the importance of opting for a BTC-focused firm, stating that the "treasury season" has replaced the "alt season." He urged speculators to "dump ALTs into BTC or BTC treasuries," suggesting that this move could help altcoin holders recover their losses.

This is the second time Back has issued such a warning to altcoin investors. Last week, he cautioned that Cardano's decision to diversify $100M ADA reserves into BTC was a signal to those heavily invested in the altcoin space. Back's argument was supported by the performance of various crypto assets and treasury firms. For instance, DeFi Development Corporation's stock, DFDV, soared by 2,800% on a year-to-date basis, outperforming all other top crypto assets and treasury firms in the first half of 2025. Metaplanet (MTPLF) offered 452% in investor returns, while Hyperliquid provided 34% returns. Strategy (MSTR) posted 23% gains, and BTC was up 8% over the same period. In contrast, Solana [SOL] and Ethereum [ETH] were down 23% and 32%, respectively.

Bitcoin's dominance jumped to 65.95% during the Sunday sell-off, up 6% from its May low of 61%. This indicates that Bitcoin's market has strengthened relative to altcoins since mid-May, leading to a new wave of weakening across most altcoins. The Altcoin Season Index’s reading dropped to 12, marking a two-year low, further underscoring the underperformance of the altcoin market compared to BTC. Despite select outliers like HYPE, crypto treasuries have offered outsized returns, outperforming even underlying assets like BTC and SOL. Therefore, they may be worth tracking alongside resilient outliers like HYPE.