Bitcoin hits $28,000 after BlackRock files for BTC ETF

On this week’s episode of The Market Report, Cointelegraph looks at the probable causes of recent Bitcoin price action, and its market dominance reaching 50% of the total crypto market cap.

In the latest episode of The Market Report, Cointelegraph analyst and writer Marcel Pechman explains what’s behind Bitcoin (BTC) reaching 50% crypto market dominance for the first time in two years amid Blackrock’s spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing, and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s crackdown on altcoins.

According to Pechman, it must be admitted that no one expected Bitcoin to become the second-largest nonfungible token blockchain. Analysis from CryptoSlam shows that the 30-day adjusted data — excluding wash trades — was $380 million for Ether (ETH) versus $104 million on Bitcoin and $40 million on Solana (SOL).

Therefore, Michael Saylor’s call for 80% market dominance depends on decentralized finance moving to the Bitcoin network. While it might sound impossible right now, that’s because there is no infrastructure for smart contracts on Bitcoin, regardless of a second layer.

Next, Pechman raises an issue with Glassnode’s recent “The Week On-Chain” report. Using data from previous halving cycles, analysts ascertain that Bitcoin sideways price action may last 18 months, which “suggests that another 6 to 12 months may be ahead of us.“

Pechman reminds us that, in real life, if the Bitcoin price spikes from $25,000 to $70,000 and corrects to $40,000, for example, that’s life or death for most traders — figuratively speaking. Calling the pre-halving period “sideways boredom” just because Bitcoin eventually reaches $150,000 after the halving does not make sense.

In the final segment, Pechman discusses Deutsche Bank’s digital asset custody license application. A digital asset custody service means holding client assets, not investing the bank’s money or integrating cryptocurrency services. When it comes to accepting Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) deposits as collateral for international shipping or originating loans, Pechman believes we’re still some way from seeing this.