Why Holding Anything But Bitcoin Has Been a Losing Bet for Two Years
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The gap between Bitcoin and the rest of the market has become a chasm.
Key facts
- Bitcoin carries futures open interest worth about 2% of its market capitalization, the report found, while speculative small caps carry far more, with PEPE near 24%
- Solana's spot ETFs, newer and smaller, have drawn about $29.7 million
- Several majors outran Bitcoin in the bounce, with Solana up roughly 10% on the day and names like NEAR and Uniswap posting far larger gains, hinting at the kind of breadth that had been missing
- The gap between Bitcoin and the rest of the market has become a chasm
Summary
Over two years, Bitcoin gained 28% while the median mid-cap altcoin lost 74% and Ethereum landed roughly sideways, per a Glassnode and Bybit report—a stark reversal of the usual "altseason" rotation. Leverage has pooled in the riskiest corners: Bitcoin carries futures open interest worth about 2% of its market cap, versus roughly 24% for PEPE. This week's rebound above $80,000 dragged majors up with it, while ETF flows still tilt heavily toward Bitcoin's $55.2 billion over Ethereum's $13.1 billion. The report frames the divergence as the defining feature of this cycle: Bitcoin compounding higher while the mid-cap complex "halves and halves again.