CoinEX Interview: Bitcoin Dominance Rises as Altcoin Market Struggles

crypto.news had the opportunity to sit down with CoinEX Chief Strategy Officer John Larson to discuss the current state of the crypto market, Bitcoin’s potential trajectory, lingering macro tensions, and the challenging altcoin landscape.

Bitcoin fell below $80,000 on March 12, down more than 4% in the past 24 hours amid a broad-based market weakness. The total crypto market cap fell to $2.6 trillion, as digital investors liquidated assets to reduce risk and protect capital.

John Larson, a representative of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange CoinEX, discussed a range of topics with crypto.news, including the psychological barrier of $100,000 for Bitcoin users and the unlikely possibility of a recovery below $70,000. Here is the interview.

– Based on CoinEX’s exchange activity (trading volume, inflows, withdrawals), are investors buying into this dip?

– The current cryptocurrency market is showing a new pattern, with investors focusing on Bitcoin instead of altcoins. This trend has led to a clear separation between Bitcoin and the rest of the altcoin market.

Over the past week, after Bybit’s outage, Binance saw inflows of nearly $3.5 billion, outperforming other major exchanges. This is not a sign of traditional dip buying, but rather a flight of capital to preserve assets. Investors have withdrawn capital from smaller exchanges and poured it into larger exchanges for safety.

Meanwhile, Ethereum and Solana are under heavy selling pressure, especially as the altcoin market struggles with liquidity. Despite Bitcoin’s slight recovery, the overall sentiment remains cautious, with many investors choosing to hold rather than actively participate in the market.

The recent pro-crypto stance of the US government has also reinforced Bitcoin’s dominance. Investors are pouring attention and liquidity into Bitcoin, while altcoins are facing major challenges and waiting for the market to recover. CEX trading has also dropped significantly over the past three months, reflecting the fear and uncertainty in the market.

– Bitcoin is down 22% from its all-time high. Analyst Tom Lee Predicts BTC Could Drop Another 25% to $60,000. Does CoinEX’s Order Book Indicate This?

– Predicting price action is always a big challenge, but data from CoinEX’s order book suggests that the most important level is around $100,000, rather than a deep drop below $70,000.

While Bitcoin briefly hit a low near $70,000, it quickly recovered above $85,000, suggesting that $100,000 remains a psychologically important milestone and strong support in this cycle. Based on the current situation, we do not expect BTC to fall below $70,000 in the short term.

– Are there any indicators that the market bottom is in? Are investors betting on further declines or accumulating more assets at this level?

– CoinEX is closely monitoring the market developments. History shows that Bitcoin price is closely correlated with the fluctuations of the US stock market and money supply. When the US stock market falls sharply, it is not surprising that Bitcoin is also affected.

Recently, the sell-off from investment funds such as Binance and ETH is adding pressure to the market. Even investment funds that were once associated with famous figures such as WFLI are recording large losses.

The current market is in a period of waiting for adjustments from macro factors such as interest rates and monetary policies. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a cautious attitude and be ready to face the next decline.

– Some people think that we are at a cyclical bottom, while others think that macro factors have caused the decline in the value of the crypto market. So what’s really going on?

– Bitcoin is now clearly decoupled from the altcoin market. BTC’s price action is now more dependent on the USD and traditional financial markets, rather than the four-year crypto market cycle as it was before.

The altcoin market, especially Ethereum, is lacking strong momentum, while Layer-2 tokens and VC-backed projects are losing traction. Furthermore, alternative chains like Solana are still largely driven by speculation, while meme coins have run out of liquidity.

A combination of macro factors, selling pressure from altcoins, and high Ethereum transaction fees could be the main reasons behind the current decline in the crypto market.