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Several altcoins have staged notable price gains over the past week, a trend reflected in the recent drop in Bitcoin’s (BTC) market dominance. The cryptocurrency that delivered the strongest returns over that period is Bitcoin Cash (BCH), soaring over 110%, while Litecoin and Solana have also seen significant returns.

Upbit, EDX Boosts BCH 7-day Gains to 113%

Over the past seven days, the prices of Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LTC), and BCH have experienced substantial gains, rising more than 13%, 17%, and 113%, respectively. Bitcoin dominance has experienced a slump during this period as a result.

This decline suggests a shifting investor sentiment and an increasing appetite for altcoins, and elevated expectations of the start of the so-called altcoin season – a period in the crypto market when the prices of alternative cryptocurrencies experience significant growth and outperform the market leader, BTC.

As one can see, Bitcoin Cash has staged a particularly impressive price rally over the past week, adding around $1.2 billion to its market cap. The price surge can be attributed to several reasons. Firstly, BCH is one of the 4 tokens listed on the EDX Markets – a newly-launched digital asset exchange backed by major institutional investors such as Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, and Fidelity Investments.

Secondly, the cryptocurrency saw a drastic increase in trading activity on South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange, Upbit. This surge in activity was responsible for BCH’s latest 27% jump in the past 24 hours to $309.09.

Meanwhile, SOL and LTC also experienced notable returns, with the former crypto asset set to undergo a halving event in August.

Bitcoin Dominance Retreats After Hitting a 26-Month High

In line with the growing demand for altcoins, Bitcoin dominance – a key metric that measures the market capitalization of Bitcoin relative to the overall cryptocurrency market – has been on a downward trajectory.

The slump comes after BTC dominance hit the highest level in over two years on Thursday, surging above the 52% level for the first time since April 2021. Since then, it has slightly retraced, standing at 51.78% at the time of writing.

The rise in Bitcoin dominance came amid the recent institutional adoption hopes triggered by a series of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications by prominent US traditional finance (TradFi) firms. This trend has propelled BTC above $30,000 for the second time this year.

However, as BTC dominance reaches a certain level, it often encounters a resistance point. At this juncture, traders diversify their portfolios and explore altcoin investment opportunities.

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