Bitcoin's crypto market share hits 60% as ETF flows waver

Bitcoin's share of the crypto market reached 60% on Wednesday, Oct. 22, the highest since May, CoinDesk reported in its Daybook newsletter.

Dominance measures a coin's contribution to the total market value of digital assets; CoinDesk said the rate remained near 60% after the move. Bitcoin slipped below $82,000 on Thursday, reversing a brief push above $84,000 the day before. Ether, XRP and solana were little changed to positive over seven days, while zcash was the only major coin to advance more than 10%.

At 60%, a cap-weighted crypto sleeve would hold most of a client's digital-asset exposure in one asset. The week's declines came from the rest of the sleeve: CoinDesk's Memecoin Index dropped more than 5%, its Computing Select Index 3.5% and its DeFi Select Index 2.5%. The due-diligence question is mechanical: how a manager sets weights, and whether rebalancing bands force trims in the dominant coin.

"Flows remain volatile, and sustained inflows are needed to confirm a stronger recovery," said Vikram Subburaj, chief executive of India-based crypto exchange Giottus, in an email quoted by CoinDesk. Joel Kruger, a market strategist at LMAX Group, said in an email that the sector's earlier outperformance had given way to closer alignment with equities while investors wait for a catalyst. He said the global macroeconomic situation remains the dominant influence, and that bitcoin's scarcity could help it sustain potential jitters in global equity markets.

CoinDesk flagged the Federal Reserve's interest-rate meeting next week as the next catalyst. The open terms are whether bitcoin's share holds near 60% and whether ETF flows become steady enough to treat the wrapper as a dependable execution channel.