As the cryptocurrency market braces for the imminent halving event, Bitcoin (BTC) has strengthened its dominance, even as its price hovers around the $61,000 mark, signaling a shift in investor sentiment towards the leading digital asset.

During Asian trading hours on Thursday, BTC was observed trading below $61,400, reflecting a broader market sell-off fueled by macroeconomic uncertainties. CoinDesk Indices data indicates a 3.3% decline in the CoinDesk 20, a benchmark for the most liquid digital assets, with the index currently standing at 2,125.

While Bitcoin faces its own challenges, other cryptocurrencies, particularly layer-1 tokens and altcoins, have experienced even steeper declines. Layer-1 tokens such as Solana (SOL) have plummeted by over 20% in the past week, while Avalanche (AVAX), Cardano (ADA), and Filecoin (FIL) have witnessed declines ranging from 23% to 30%.

The downturn extends to Artificial Intelligence (AI) tokens, once highly favored by investors, with tokens like Render's RNDR and Fetch.AI's FET seeing significant double-digit losses over the past week.

This market turmoil has prompted a resurgence in Bitcoin dominance, a metric used to assess the influence of BTC on altcoin trends. Currently standing at 55.19%, Bitcoin dominance has risen approximately 1.35% over the last week or 2.5% over the past month, underscoring Bitcoin's renewed prominence amidst market volatility.

In parallel with Bitcoin's dominance surge, Google search interest in the halving has soared to unprecedented levels as the event approaches. Search trends data indicates that interest in the halving surpasses that of other prominent cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Solana, and Dogecoin, indicating heightened anticipation and awareness within the crypto community.

As the market navigates through these turbulent times, all eyes remain on Bitcoin as it approaches the halving, with investors closely monitoring its performance and its impact on the broader cryptocurrency landscape.