Michaël van de Poppe’s latest tweet has reignited a familiar debate in crypto markets: is the era now more favorable to Ethereum than to Bitcoin? The Dutch analyst warned that “the BTC dominance seems to be breaking down. It’s making a lower high, and therefore, a continuation of this trend is likely to expect. I still stand by the thesis that it’s more of an ETH bull market already than a Bitcoin bull market, so I would expect Ethereum to continue pacing upwards.”
The timing of the message comes amid a choppy market with Bitcoin trading well below last year’s highs. Bitcoin’s price sits around the high-$60,000s, a far cry from the peaks many expected after the late-2025 rally. That softer price action has coincided with a gradual slide in Bitcoin’s share of the total crypto market, a metric traders call BTC dominance, fueling speculation that money is rotating into alternative chains and tokens, notably Ethereum.
Ethereum, meanwhile, has held a psychological pivot around the $2,000 mark and recently showed signs of resilience versus Bitcoin. With ETH trading near the $2,000 level, several traders interpret the pair’s relative strength as a possible early signal of an altcoin season led by large smart-contract platforms rather than another Bitcoin-only run. That view dovetails neatly with van de Poppe’s long-standing stance that Ethereum could lead the next phase of outperformance.
Is 2026 Becoming an ETH-Led Market?
Technically, the argument rests on the dominance chart. A lower high on BTC dominance historically suggests capital is starting to flow into non-BTC tokens. Traders watching weekly and monthly frames are paying close attention to whether the current consolidation completes a decisive breakdown, which would make Ethereum-led rallies more likely to accelerate. Conversely, if Bitcoin reasserts itself and dominance reverts higher, that thesis would lose momentum. The picture this week remains one of consolidation rather than a full-blown trend change.
Macro and market sentiment also color the debate. Analysts point to broader risk appetite shifts, tech-stock swings, fund performance, and macro data that have pressured large-cap crypto prices and made institutional flows choppy. Recent coverage highlighting strains in some crypto funds and a pullback from October peaks shows how fragile leadership narratives can be when macro tailwinds ebb. Traders say those cross-currents make it more likely that dominance moves will be noisy, yet meaningful if they persist.
For everyday traders, van de Poppe’s message is both a tactical signal and a reminder: watch dominance, watch ETH/BTC, and let the charts confirm conviction. If Bitcoin dominance continues to roll over while Ethereum holds support and posts relative gains, the market’s center of gravity could indeed tilt toward Ethereum for the months ahead. If not, Bitcoin remains the anchor many investors still prize. Either way, the coming weeks will be pivotal in deciding whether this is a passing rotation or the start of a structural shift in leadership.
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