"Japanese cryptocurrency holders prefer Bitcoin over XRP and other altcoins"
Bitcoin has successfully regained its popularity with Japanese cryptocurrency holders in recent months. The Japan Virtual and Crypto Asset Exchange Association (JVCEA) recently released a report indicating that the majority of Japanese cryptocurrency holders might be ditching altcoins in droves.
XRP was once the cryptocurrency of choice among Japanese cryptocurrency enthusiasts. In fact, the third largest cryptocurrency dominated the market for quite some time, as it had the largest number of cryptocurrency holders. However, over the past few months, investors in Japan have switched from altcoin to bitcoin (BTC).
The fall of XRP and the rise of Bitcoin in Japan
JVCEA shared a report on August 19 showing the preferences of cryptocurrency investors in Japan. According to the report, the dominance of bitcoin's market capitalization compared to the aggregate market capitalization of the rest of the cryptocurrencies in the Japanese market stood at more than 87% in April.
Notably, no other cryptocurrency was responsible for more than 7% of the total volume traded. Still, in April, there was a significant increase in the number of active accounts for spot cryptocurrency trading in Japan, a crypto-friendly country.
Yuya Hasegawa, a senior market analyst at the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange bitbank, posited that interest in cryptocurrencies among Japanese investors is currently biased towards bitcoin. The massive growth in the number of active accounts shows that new users in Japan are only interested in the leading cryptocurrency, especially since last summer.
According to Hasegawa, Ripple's XRP emerged as the biggest loser in the Japanese cryptocurrency market. The digital asset once accounted for roughly 40% of monthly traded volume, but this trend has now turned in favor of BTC. In perspective, the figure fell to 5% in April.
It's worth mentioning that XRP continues to fight serious securities lawsuits. Ripple, the fintech company responsible for the altcoin, has been hit with several lawsuits claiming that the digital asset is a security. While Ripple has made some efforts to have the lawsuits dismissed, legal issues have made it difficult for XRP to penetrate major markets as an investment option, as well as in terms of profit.
Bitcoin's dominance globally declines steadily
In addition to XRP, MonaCoin (MONA) also challenged the dominance of BTC in Japan in February. The coin's monthly traded volume briefly pushed the dominance of BTC below 70% during that month, but the dominance of the benchmark cryptocurrency rebounded quickly, reaching more than 87% in April.
Even though bitcoin has gained a solid foundation in Japan, the dominance of global assets has plummeted. According to data provided by CoinMarketCap, BTC's dominance has not exceeded 70% since January 2017. Currently, bitcoin's dominance has fallen to an annual low, with the top cryptocurrency accounting for 58.0% of the aggregate capitalization of the $ 370 billion cryptocurrencies.
