Comparing Bitcoin (BTC) with altcoins: why does the king of cryptocurrencies remain in trend?

Bitcoin (BTC), the first digital asset in history, has spawned many other cryptocurrencies known as altcoins. However, despite a growing number of competitors, Bitcoin continues to hold a leading position in the market.

Positioning of Bitcoin and altcoins

Bitcoin was created as a digital currency and savings vehicle that is an alternative to traditional money.

Its main goals include:

• decentralization of the financial system;
• protection against inflation;
• secure and anonymous transactions without intermediaries;
• eliminating borders for financial transactions, allowing cross-border transfers at minimal cost;
• providing access to financial services for people without bank accounts;
• creating an alternative to traditional financial instruments, protected from political interference and censorship.

Altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and others have often been created with more specialized purposes. For example, Ethereum focuses on creating a platform for smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). At the same time, Solana is known for its speed and low fees, making it attractive to developers of Web3 and NFT projects.

Market capitalization and liquidity

Bitcoin consistently holds the number one position in terms of market capitalization, accounting for over 40% of the total crypto market capitalization at the beginning of 2025. This means that of the total market value of all cryptocurrencies, estimated at $2 trillion, Bitcoin accounts for over $800 billion. This fact demonstrates Bitcoin's stability and dominance in the market, even though altcoins are rising.

Ethereum, which is in second place, has a market capitalization of about $400 billion, which is half as much. The altcoin came in second place due to its versatility and the introduction of the Ethereum 2.0 update, which increased the network's efficiency. As of early 2025, Ethereum processes more than 1 million transactions per day, and its smart contracts underpin the DeFi and NFT ecosystems, which have a combined value of more than $150 billion.

Solana and other altcoins cannot yet match Bitcoin in terms of liquidity, which limits their use in large transactions. For example, Bitcoin's average daily trading volume as of early 2025 is more than $30 billion, while Solana's ranges around $1 billion. Bitcoin's high liquidity allows large investors and institutional players to quickly enter and exit the market without causing significant price fluctuations.

In comparison, less liquid altcoins such as Solana can experience dramatic rate changes even with relatively small trades, making them less attractive for large transactions and strategic investments. For example, with a daily trading volume of around $1 billion, a $50 million transaction could cause Solana's price to change by 2-3%. In contrast, for Bitcoin, with its daily trading volume of over $30 billion, such a transaction would have virtually no impact on its price, making Bitcoin more stable and preferable for large players.

Technological foundation

The Bitcoin blockchain is designed with a focus on security and immutability. To minimize vulnerabilities, it deliberately avoids complex features such as smart contracts.

Among the drawbacks of the Bitcoin blockchain is the slow transaction speed. The average block confirmation time is 10 minutes, making the network less suitable for microtransactions. For example, about 6 blocks are confirmed per hour, and the network can only process about 7 transactions per second. In comparison, networks like Visa can process tens of thousands of transactions per second. This relative slowness of Bitcoin results in users facing high fees during peak periods, as high as $20-30 per transaction. However, the limitations are offset by the high reliability and security of the network.

Ethereum enables the creation of smart contracts, providing flexibility for various applications. For example, more than 3,000 decentralized applications (dApps) run on Ethereum, which are used in decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, and NFT. In 2025, the total blocked assets (TVL) in Ethereum-powered applications exceeded $150 billion.

Additional features make the Ethereum network vulnerable to hacker attacks and technical failures. For example, in 2021, more than $1.3 billion was lost or stolen due to DeFi code bugs on Ethereum. Even with improved security standards, the complexity of smart contracts remains an issue that requires developers' attention.

High performance is a significant advantage of Solana's network. Processing up to 65,000 transactions per second makes Solana one of the fastest blockchain networks. Ethereum processes about 30 transactions per second, and Bitcoin about 7. This makes Solana attractive for projects where high throughput is required, such as NFT and DeFi. However, the actual load on the network shows that during peak hours, TPS (transactions per second) rarely reaches maximum values.

To ensure high speed, the network sacrifices decentralization, which causes criticism in the community. As of early 2025, Solana has about 2,000 validators, significantly less than Ethereum, which has over 500,000 validators. Moreover, the high hardware requirements for validators in Solana limit participation, making the network dependent on fewer participants. This increases risks and reduces trust among decentralization proponents.

Decentralization and security

Bitcoin is known for its highest degree of decentralization. As of early 2025, the network has more than 40,000 nodes, making it one of the most decentralized blockchain systems in the world. By comparison, Ethereum has about 10,000 active nodes, and Solana has less than 2,000.

This large-scale decentralization ensures the resilience of the Bitcoin network against attacks: to successfully carry out a 51% attack, an attacker would need control over an incredible amount of computing power, which is virtually impossible. In addition, the wide geographic distribution of nodes — from North America to Asia to Europe — makes the network resilient to localized failures and regulatory risks.

Ethereum is also decentralized, but the move to Proof-of-Stake has sparked a controversy about large validators' ability to concentrate power. As of early 2025, about 60% of all validated Ethereum stacks are controlled by the four most prominent providers, including Lido, Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance. This creates a risk of centralization, as most validators depend on the big players. In comparison, in the Proof-of-Work model, the power distribution among miners was more diverse, reducing the likelihood of concentration of control.

Solana has been criticized for its high threshold for validator participation, which makes its network more centralized. To participate, Solana requires powerful hardware with high computing power and access to high-speed internet, which creates a barrier for most participants.

As of early 2025, the network includes about 2,000 validators, but a few of the most prominent participants control more than 33% of the voting power. This concentration leads to the risk that a small group of participants can exert significant influence over the network, reducing trust in its decentralization.

Usage and acceptance

The recognition of Bitcoin by institutional investors such as BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Tesla, MicroStrategy, and others contributes to its popularity. As of early 2025, institutional investors' combined investments in Bitcoin exceed $30 billion. In addition to MicroStrategy, which owns more than 152,000 BTC, and Tesla, a significant amount of BTC is held in investment funds such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which has more than $16 billion in assets.

Bitcoin is used for savings (analogous to "digital gold") and payment. In 2025, it will be actively used as a hedge against inflation, especially in countries with unstable economies. For example, in Turkey, Venezuela, and Argentina, where inflation exceeds 50% per annum, demand for Bitcoin has been steadily increasing, and trading volumes on local exchanges have increased by more than 200% in the past two years.

Globally, more than 15,000 companies, including Microsoft, PayPal, and Overstock, accept Bitcoin to pay for goods and services. In 2024, Bitcoin's cumulative transaction volume exceeded $10 trillion, confirming its importance as a means of payment and settlement.

Ethereum is mainly used in the DeFi and NFT sector. In 2025, over 70% of all decentralized financial applications (DeFi) run on the Ethereum platform. Examples of popular Ethereum-based DeFi applications include Uniswap (trading volumes exceeding $1 billion per day), Aave (a leader in loan origination), and Curve (specializing in stable assets).

Ethereum is also a leader in the NFT sector. The largest NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea, operate on its blockchain, with a monthly turnover of over $500 million. Ethereum is also used to issue gaming tokens and digital collectibles, expanding its use beyond traditional finance.

Solana is becoming the choice for developers looking for high-speed and low fees. In 2025, due to its high throughput and low fees, often as low as $0.01 per transaction, Solana will be heavily used in the development of DeFi, NFT, and GameFi projects.

The platform hosts popular projects such as Serum (decentralized exchange), SolSea (NFT marketplace), and Star Atlas (blockchain-based game). More than 5,000 developers have chosen Solana for their projects, making it one of the fastest-growing ecosystems. In 2024, total trading volume on Solana's DeFi applications exceeded $60 billion, and NFT sector transactions totaled over $1 billion.

Why does Bitcoin remain the king of cryptocurrencies?

• First cryptocurrency: Bitcoin has a primacy effect that gives it high credibility. From its inception in 2009 until 2025, Bitcoin remains the most well-known and respected cryptocurrency. According to research, more than 70% of crypto market participants view Bitcoin as a trusted asset, and its brand is recognizable even among people far removed from blockchain technology.
• Limited supply: A maximum of 21 million coins protects Bitcoin from inflation. As of early 2025, about 92% of all coins have been mined, making Bitcoin an increasingly scarce resource. This limited volume helps to preserve and grow the coin's value, especially in the face of high inflation in global economies.
• Simplicity: Bitcoin perfectly fulfills its role as a savings vehicle, avoiding unnecessary complexity. The absence of smart contracts and other complex features makes it a reliable and understandable tool for institutional and private investors.
• Versatility: Bitcoin can be used for various purposes, from cross-border transfers to long-term investments. In 2024, Bitcoin transaction volume exceeded $10 trillion, and the number of wallets with a balance of more than 1 BTC increased by 8% to 1 million. This underscores the coin's widespread popularity among long-term holders and current transactions.
• Community and support: Bitcoin has the largest and most loyal community of users and developers. As of early 2025, the number of active nodes on the network exceeds 40,000, and forums such as BitcoinTalk and educational platforms continue to attract millions of participants, strengthening the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Conclusion

Despite its many competitors, Bitcoin retains its unique advantages, making it the market leader. Its simplicity, reliability, limited supply, and global acceptance put it at the center of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Altcoins such as Ethereum and Solana have their strengths, but they complement, not replace, Bitcoin. In 2025, Bitcoin will continue to symbolize financial freedom and trust, holding the title of king of cryptocurrencies.