I never thought I'd say this, but it's become clear recently that Bitcoin is a cancer to the whole cryptocurrency market. The fact that altcoins are measured in satoshis means whenever Bitcoin plummets, it takes all the other coins down with it. You would think, then, that when Bitcoin rises the other coins follow suit. Well, no, that's not true. Actually, most coins tend to decline when Bitcoin's price increases. Not always in dollars, but certainly in satoshis.
This is a real problem. There are some really great, promising coins out there whose progress is being stifled by a clunky, expensive, slow, and volatile coin. People have grown both wary and weary of Bitcoin, and thus the whole market suffers.
The only thing left to do is separate Bitcoin from the rest of the coins, and this can only happen when exchanges allow new pairs. For example, an increase in LTC and ETH pairs would go a long way in cutting the cancer that is Bitcoin off from the altcoins. This is happening already, though not as quickly as I would like. Still, things look promising.
This is probably a controversial view, but I'm starting to see more and more people voice it. I say we let Bitcoin be the store of value its hodlers say it is, and retire it already. Make way for more practical coins.
