The first cryptocurrency that started it all, and the #1 cryptocurrency by market cap, Bitcoin, has reached over 50% market share dominance across the entire cryptocurrency market cap this week.

A notable milestone for Bitcoin, the king of cryptocurrencies hasn’t seen 50% or more dominance across the cryptocurrency market since 2017. The last time Bitcoin enjoyed the majority market share, was right around when Bitcoin reached its all-time high of $20,000 on December 17th 2017.

Pictured: The last time Bitcoin dominance was over 50% according to CoinMarketCap data.

On that day, Bitcoin had nearly a 55% dominance over the market. As Bitcoin’s parabolic advance broke, so did its stronghold over the majority share of the cryptocurrency market cap, dropping to under 50% the very next day and not returning until now.

Prior to the Bitcoin bull run of 2017, the original “digital currency” was mostly unchallenged, ranging between 80 and 95% of the total cryptocurrency market share. It wasn’t until mid-March 2017 when competing cryptocurrency projects like Ethereum and Ripple began picking up steam in terms of grabbing market share from Bitcoin.

Bitcoin dominance hit a low for 2018 on January 14 and has ranged between 35% and 45% much of 2018. It wasn’t until rumors of a Bitcoin ETF being approved caused Bitcoin’s price to spike. At this time, investors began liquidating their altcoin holdings into Bitcoin, which caused the overall crypto market share to shift in favor of Bitcoin’s dominance.

Pictured: Bitcoin's first time reaching above 50% dominance in 2018 according to CoinMarketCap data.

Many view Bitcoin’s dominance returning as a positive sign for the cryptocurrency market, as the irrational exuberance from the “bubble effect” begins to fade, and investors begin moving away from risky, and likely overvalued altcoins into the more tried and true Bitcoin.

Bitcoin’s current price is at a pivotal juncture, again nearing yearly lows and inching ever closer to the apex of a seven-month-long descending triangle - typically a bearish chart pattern. However, many experts believe that this is the “bottom” and Bitcoin will reach new highs in 2018 and beyond.