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For the first time in quite a while, the cryptocurrency asset class seems to have a pulse. Since the beginning of 2023, the collective crypto market cap has soared around 25% and has regained the $1 trillion mark, a level not seen since November.
The surge in crypto over the past few weeks has seen just about every cryptocurrency making gains, but there are two in particular that stand out from the crowd: Bitcoin (BTC -2.23%) and Ethereum (ETH -5.90%).
I won’t get any points for originality, but these two cryptocurrencies are the cream of the crop. Between them, they account for nearly 60% of all the value in cryptocurrency (Bitcoin 42% and Ethereum 19%). Often, as Bitcoin and Ethereum go, so goes the rest of the asset class.
The reason these two tokens occupy a class of their own actually isn’t that complicated. Although cryptocurrencies can sometimes seem overly technical and misunderstood, keeping things simple is typically one of the best ways to maximize potential.
Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, has led the asset class for more than 14 years. It dominates in large part due to the fact that, for a while, there simply weren’t any other cryptocurrencies for investors to buy. This has changed over the past decade, but even though there are now thousands of cryptocurrencies to choose from, Bitcoin still dominates.
Its continued leadership is likely due to a handful of reasons — among them, characteristics such its unmatched decentralization and security, and its inherent scarcity, which supports the argument that it should be a great store of value. These traits have put Bitcoin in a class of its own, and have led to interest in it from more than just the average retail investor.
Since 2021, two countries have made Bitcoin a form of legal tender, the world’s largest asset manager announced it would allow clients to own Bitcoin, and some publicly traded companies are holding some Bitcoin in lieu of cash. If trends like these continue, Bitcoin is unlikely to lose its spot as the most valuable cryptocurrency and will likely be the leader when a bull market returns.
While Bitcoin is the leader, Ethereum remains an unshakeable No. 2. When Ethereum was invented in 2015, it completely changed the landscape of cryptocurrency. Due to its programmable smart contracts, developers were able to create applications that ran on the Ethereum blockchain, something not possible with Bitcoin. With these smart contracts, new use cases such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) were created.
In the past few years, other blockchains that support smart contracts have been created, but none have made any significant progress in usurping Ethereum’s dominant position in that segment of the crypto world. No statistic displays this better than Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL), a metric that quantifies the value supported by blockchains in DeFi applications.
Like a company’s market cap, TVL fluctuates, but as of this writing, Ethereum’s TVL is just over $27 billion and represents around 60% of all the value in DeFi. The next closest blockchain is BNB, with just $4.7 billion.
The huge market share leads that Bitcoin and Ethereum have over their competitors are the primary reasons they will be in the driver’s seat when a bull market in crypto returns. In addition, and most importantly, nearly every other cryptocurrency is positively correlated to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
If there is anything investors should learn after the debacle of 2022, it’s that not every cryptocurrency is worthy of a spot in your portfolio. Rather than trying to spot the next meme coin that could deliver an astronomical gain — and which will more than likely head back down to zero afterward — investors should keep it simple. Since most of the asset class follows Bitcoin and Ethereum, why not just own the two leading the way? The odds are they will continue their dominance.
RJ Fulton has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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