When I first learnt about cryptos as a new technology (not as a get rich quick scheme), I naively thought, may the best coin win, and the technologically most advanced coin would draw the most users, thus eventually the price. Boy, was I wrong.
For example I always liked Litecoin, because just with a little change of the original code, it made the transfer of value much quicker and cheaper. No need of such an incredible stupid invention as the Lightning Network. Hell, Bitcoin Cash was a huge improvement but couldn't come out of the shadow of BTC. Other coins came along with actual features what Bitcoin originally claimed (like true privacy, very cheap tx cost, etc) yet they didn't really get adopted and price-wise, they always just followed BTC, but seldom took over.
Looked like the first mover's advantage was just too big to overcome. This has been changing recently. Finally looks like there is a crypto rotation and coins with advanced features are recognized and relatively valued much better than the grand daddy of obsolence. The current raise of ETH is the best example, and I hope the trend continues and these coins leave the obsolete shit aka bitcoin in the dust.
This year's YTD returns:
BTC: 86%
ETH: 334%
Cardano: 294%
LTC: 134%
BCH: 172%
NEO: 587%
etc.etc. Oh yeah:
Doge: 11,210%
Why is a crypto rotation bad for Bitcoin? Obviously the incoming money is not going to BTC only, but pushing up other coins, thus leaving BTC with much less capital. The Doge example is a funny one, because Doge has no advanced features over BTC whatsoever (well, tx cost is still low) yet it outperformed it in the store of value race many times over....
"So we have reached the point where a coin gets its justification for existence and seriousness only by rising in value and being hyped. Or, to put it in other words, something that is extremely increasing in value loses its joke character just because of this fast increase. It doesn't matter what's behind it, whether it's useful or not. The only usefulness is the increase in value. More precisely, the only usefulness is that it is the pivotal element of a pyramid scheme."