Bitcoin Dominance Logs Rapid Plunge as XRP, SHIB, and Other Altcoins Surge - U.Today

2026-01-02 21:32:22

The “altcoin season” narrative is picking up some steam this Friday.

Bitcoin’s grip on the total cryptocurrency market cap loosened significantly. The cryptocurrency’s dominance is now on the verge of plunging to 59%

## Another altcoin season?

Major altcoins, including resurgent XRP and a high-flying Dogecoin, have posted outsized gains.

Bitcoin (BTC) is changing hands at roughly $89,644. It is technically up 1.7% over the last 24 hours, but the crypto king is lagging significantly behind its nimble competitors.

For comparison, the Ripple-linked XRP token is up by 6% over the past 24 hours, CoinMarketCap data shows. It is now close to reclaiming the $2 mark

The retail favorite Dogecoin (DOGE) is vastly outperforming the wider index. It has logged a massive 10.51% green candle to reach $0.139. The move has reignited speculation across the meme coin sector. Shiba Inu (SHIB) and other smaller-cap tokens are benefiting from DOGE’s momentum

Ethereum (ETH) has finally woken from its slumber. The second-largest asset by market cap has climbed 4.36% to $3,114. It has key technical support levels after months of underperformance

For most of 2025, Bitcoin dominance remained historically high (hovering near 60%) before a sharp capital rotation into altcoins triggered a decline toward the end of the year.

However, Bitcoin’s dominance then plunged due to the stunning success of Ethereum treasury companies. Public companies began accumulating Ethereum faster than Bitcoin in the third quarter of the year, which caused a temporary ETH/BTC spike

BTC0.17%

XRP0.8%

SHIB-1.35%

DOGE1.62%

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