Ethereum has earned public recognition on par with Bitcoin

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, probably cannot be classified as an altcoin anymore. This opinion was expressed by analysts of the institutional cryptocurrency exchange San Francisco Open Exchange (SFOX).

In its latest report devoted to cryptocurrency volatility, SFOX emphasized that the current Bitcoin correlation with Ethereum is significantly higher than similar BTC  correlation against other altcoins.

"This may support the idea that Ethereum is coming into its own as a blockchain that is publicly recognized as an asset on its own terms, much like Bitcoin.  If this trend continues, it may become inappropriate to categorize Ethereum as an "altcoin" on a par with other cryptoassets that are not Bitcoin," the experts explain.

They support their conclusions with graphs and charts showing the correlation between different cryptocurrencies.

Thus, the correlation index between ETH and BTC was 0.78 in the 30 days ended on July 22. At the same time, the correlation between BTC and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was 0.638, Litecoin (LTC) - 0.577, Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) - 0.619, Ethereum Classic (ETC) - 0.602.

SFOX experts suggest that this data supports the idea that investors and traders prefer bitcoin over altcoins, especially in light of the increasing attention paid to industry regulation. Basically, they expect that regulators will start with solving the issues related to the first cryptocurrency.

Read also: SFOX volatility report: Bitcoin dominance rises as Ethereum breaks away from the altcoin park

Also, the experts note that recent developments around Facebook's project have led to an increase in Bitcoin's volatility and pushed its market domination higher even of the price has decreased. So, back in March, the bitcoin dominance index was around 50%, then in July, depending on data sources, this figure was registered between 65% and 75%.

Earlier in July, the research division of the Binance exchange published a quarterly report, in which it estimated the correlation of digital assets among themselves. According to the report, the correlation between Bitcoin and the rest of the market has decreased significantly compared with the figures for the first quarter of this year.