BTC Surpasses $30,000 Threshold, Bitcoin Dominance Reaches Highest Level in 2 Years

The cryptocurrency market has seen positive developments as Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed the $30,000 mark after months of sideways movement, leading the upward trend alongside several other coins.

Sunday, October 22, 2023, marked the official crossing of the long-awaited $30,000 milestone by the flagship coin. The last time BTC recorded a "3-handle" was back in July this year, buoyed by positive momentum from the proposed ETFs by financial giants such as BlackRock, Citadel-Fidelity-Charles Swab, Deutsche Bank, and others.

Additionally, the highest BTC peak in 2023 was $31,000, achieved on April 14.

This comeback, besides the expectations for an "Uptober" as seen historically in October price data, is primarily driven by confidence in an impending Bitcoin ETF approval by the SEC. Especially, the FOMO related to ETFs has shifted from financial giants to individual retail investors, evident from the peak in searches for "spot Bitcoin ETF" on Google.

Despite continuous SEC challenges, market sentiment remains extremely positive about the potential launch of at least one Bitcoin ETF in the coming year. Bloomberg experts even predict a 95% approval rate.

Under BTC's leadership, Ethereum (ETH) has also risen nearly 6% over the past 7 days, trading around $1,640.

In the top 100 market cap coins, Bitcoin SV (BSV) and Solana (SOL) have recorded the most impressive 7-day gains, at 63% and 35% respectively.

The reason behind BSV's "comeback" is Binance's announcement of the launch of BSV/USDT futures trading with 50x leverage on October 20. While it's futures trading and not spot listing, Binance's signal of support for a coin delisted for 4 years has brought new hope to the community.

Moreover, futures trading can easily boost trading volume for BSV, partly driving its significant price pump amidst the current overall market growth.

For Solana (SOL), the project has faced a challenging year due to severe fallout from the collapse of the FTX/Alameda Research "empire." Many predicted SOL's slow decline without strong backing and sustainable funding.

Indeed, SOL's price has somewhat reflected this, continuously "down only" for many months. Its 2023 low was around $10, down 96% from its ATH of $260.

However, thanks to collaborative efforts from the project team, developers, and the community, Solana is gradually recovering. The project continues to prove itself as a noteworthy Layer-1 competitor alongside SUI, Aptos (APT), and others.

The keyword SOL has also reappeared on X (formerly Twitter), indicating continued user and investor interest.

Currently, SOL is trading around $29, up nearly 6% in the past 24 hours.

Another notable index is Bitcoin Dominance, which has exceeded 52%, marking its highest level in 2 years. BTC's dominance index once again affirms its role as the king coin in the cryptocurrency market.

Explaining this, analyst Rebecca Stevens from The Block Research shared:

"Concerns about inflation, geopolitical risks, and increasing government internal divisions are weighing heavily on investors, forcing them to seek ways to minimize risk. And inevitably, they turn to Bitcoin."

Many analysts also perceive that as the world becomes more unstable, Bitcoin becomes more valuable.