Crypto trading · Beginner

Bitcoin and the Majors

A 1-minute lesson from the MarketPro academy, one of 20 in crypto trading.

Last reviewed 15 September 2026 by the MarketPro research desk · Editorial policy

Short answer

Bitcoin (BTC) is the oldest and largest cryptocurrency, and it functions as the market's benchmark. Its share of total crypto market value — called BTC dominance — is a widely watched gauge: rising dominance means capital is favouring bitcoin over smaller coins; falling dominance often accompanies speculative appetite for alternatives.

Bitcoin: the market's anchor

Bitcoin (BTC) is the oldest and largest cryptocurrency, and it functions as the market's benchmark. Its share of total crypto market value — called BTC dominance — is a widely watched gauge: rising dominance means capital is favouring bitcoin over smaller coins; falling dominance often accompanies speculative appetite for alternatives.

The majors

Ethereum (ETH): the largest smart-contract platform; its price often moves with BTC but with higher amplitude.
Large-cap alts: a rotating set of top-ten coins by market value. Liquidity is decent but below BTC and ETH.
Stablecoins (USDT, USDC): tokens designed to track the dollar, used as trading quote currencies and temporary parking. They carry their own issuer risks.

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Correlation matters

Most of the crypto market moves with bitcoin, especially during sharp declines — diversification across ten altcoins is far less diversified than it looks. When BTC falls hard, nearly everything falls harder. Traders therefore watch BTC's structure and key levels even when trading other coins.

Practical guidance for beginners

Liquidity concentrates in BTC and ETH: spreads are tighter, charts are cleaner, and technical analysis tends to behave more like it does in forex majors. Smaller coins add gap risk, manipulation risk and sudden illiquidity on top of ordinary market risk. Most structured trading education — and most signals — reasonably focus on the majors first. Learn the anchor before exploring the fringe.

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Written and reviewed by the MarketPro research desk

MarketPro is a trading-signal and trading-education app operated by Harajuku Holdings LTD (Cyprus). Our signal desk publishes and tracks every trade idea in-app, and every page here is checked against the app's live behaviour before publishing. Last reviewed 15 September 2026. How we produce signals and content · About MarketPro

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Not investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.