A prominent cryptocurrency analyst has expressed skepticism about Bitcoin's dominance ever returning to the heights it reached in December 2020, before the asset's price skyrocketed by approximately 220% in just three months.

Benjamin Cowen, the founder of Into The Cryptoverse, shared his views during an interview on The David Lin Report on August 17, stating, "I don’t think it is going back up to 70%. My target for Bitcoin dominance has been 60%."

Cowen explained that during significant "altcoin seasons," like the one experienced in 2021, Bitcoin's dominance—measured as the ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization to the entire crypto market—tends to decline but eventually recovers "slowly" after the altcoin rally subsides. However, in the current cycle, he is confident that Bitcoin’s peak dominance will not reach the levels seen in the past.

"I believe there is space for Ethereum and many other cryptocurrencies," Cowen added, suggesting that Bitcoin might push towards the 60% dominance level as early as September or as late as December.

As of the article's publication, Bitcoin dominance stands at 57.36%, reflecting a 4.25% increase since July 18, according to data from TradingView. Since the beginning of the year, Bitcoin dominance has risen by 11.20%.

Meanwhile, a well-known crypto trader, who goes by the pseudonym Kaleo, recently informed their 643,700 followers on X (formerly Twitter) that Bitcoin dominance may have already reached its peak. "I feel fairly confident this is the cycle top for Bitcoin Dominance," Kaleo noted in an August 9 post, when Bitcoin dominance was approximately 57.50%. Kaleo added that they were relieved it didn’t quite reach the 60% mark, as that would have been "painful," and suggested that the true "altseason" might begin once Bitcoin dominance falls below 50%.

Traders often watch for signs of peaking Bitcoin dominance as an indicator to sell Bitcoin and move capital into alternative assets, such as altcoins.

In December 2020, Bitcoin's dominance peaked at 70.23% before its price surged to $61,283 by March 2021, according to CoinMarketCap data. Cowen pointed out that the situation in 2024 is "trickier" compared to 2019, when dominance reached slightly above 71%, due to the significantly lower market capitalization of stablecoins at that time.

Cowen also recommended that investors consider combining Bitcoin dominance with the dominance of the stablecoin Tether (USDT) to calculate a "flight to safety dominance." He explained that this combined figure currently stands at about 63%, similar to the level in June 2019, before the U.S. Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates.

At the time of writing, the combined dominance of USDT and Bitcoin is 63.07%.