Yes, bitcoin was not the first crypto or the first decentralized currency, but it was the first successful crypto. Before bitcoin, BitGold and BMoney were the first decentralized cryptocurrencies but both were just theories, they were never fully implemented so they quickly failed.
There are more cryptocurrencies before Bitcoin appearance than just BitGold or Bmoney.
Bitcoin Prehistory Tree.You can see more like Digicash, Cybercash, E-Gold, Hashcash, and BitTorrent.
Exactly but despite of those coins goes first before Bitcoin it manage to became the most successful ever exist on the market. But those who came out first is now can't be found and people is not talking about its existence anymore.
I strongly believe that Bitcoin could hold the lead position in the market since if we look at the adoption level on this coin its still increasing. If we compare the supply of those top alts on the market we can also see that Bitcoin limited supply is more appealing that's why I believe that the other alts will remain alternative and people would continue to buy more Bitcoins.
I also believe that there's no other crypto yet exist that can surpass Bitcoin's popularity. But lets just see what's going to happen in future since somehow everything has a possibilities to happen.
Among the coins that existed before and after Bitcoin, none have been able to outperform Bitcoin, even coins like Ethereum, which consistently ranks in the top 10 cryptocurrency marketcap, or arguably holds a stable second place. Furthermore, I find that coins other than Bitcoin struggle (so hard) to create new ATHs and don't experience the same cycles as Bitcoin. Therefore, we can conclude that Bitcoin will continue to hold the lead over any cryptocurrency. I believe this is because Bitcoin will continue to be adopted by many individuals, countries, institutions, or even companies, and I believe its adoption will continue to grow. Another reason I believe is the Bitcoin cycle related to halvings, which is related to scarcity, especially coupled with overwhelming demand.