Altcoins have seen vital progress not too long ago, and present crypto market situations recommend there may quickly be a shift in the direction of cryptocurrencies exterior of Bitcoin, in response to Coinbase.
“We suppose present market situations now recommend a possible shift in the direction of a full-scale altcoin season as we strategy September,” Coinbase Institutional’s world head of analysis, David Duong, wrote in a month-to-month outlook report on Thursday.
The Coinbase analyst joins a rising refrain of merchants and market observers tipping for an imminent altcoin season.
The agency defines altcoin season as when at the very least 75% of the highest 50 altcoins by market capitalization outperform Bitcoin (BTC) over the previous 90 days.
Duong added that there was “vital retail capital sitting on the sidelines” in cash market funds, and Federal Reserve easing may “unlock better retail participation within the medium time period.”
July’s US Consumer Price Index (CPI) this week confirmed inflation holding at 2.7% year-over-year, which has seen the odds of a Fed September charge reduce improve to 92% on futures markets.
A decrease rate of interest setting doubtlessly attracts recent capital into the market and could possibly be a catalyst for high-risk belongings equivalent to altcoins.
Bitcoin dominance is declining
Another issue influencing the arrival of altseason is the decline in Bitcoin dominance or whole crypto market capitalization share.
Bitcoin’s market dominance has declined round 10% from over 65% in May 2025 to roughly 59% by August 2025, “signaling the early levels of capital rotation into altcoins,” Duong wrote.
Related: Altseason on horizon amid liquidity surge, regulatory readability: Sygnum
Bitcoin dominance is at the moment 59.5%, round its lowest degree since late January, in accordance to TradingView.
“Bitcoin dominance has simply fashioned its first month-to-month bearish cross since January 2021,” noticed crypto day dealer Ito Shimotsuma on Thursday. “Back then, altcoins went up just for 4 months when it occurred,” he mentioned earlier than including, “Something related this time will trigger an up-only rally until December 2025.”
Altcoin season indexes are shifting greater
Altcoin season indexes have additionally been climbing greater, however nonetheless stay effectively under the 75 threshold by which they traditionally outline altseasons, regardless that the altcoin market cap has climbed over 50% since early July, Duong noticed.
CoinMarketCapʼs Altcoin Season Index at the moment sits at 44, having climbed from under 25 in July. Blockchain Center’s Altcoin Season Index is a impartial 53, whereas CryptoRank’s Altseason Index is a degree 50.
Institutional curiosity in ETH is driving altcoin season
Duong mentioned that present momentum is being fueled by digital asset treasuries and stablecoin narratives, with the divergence in altseason indexes and whole altcoin market cap “reflecting rising institutional curiosity in Ethereum,” earlier than concluding:
“With the altcoin market cap climbing and the Altcoin Season Index exhibiting early optimistic indicators, we consider situations are establishing for a possible rotation right into a extra mature altcoin season as we head into September.”
“Three key situations have to align for an altcoin season to take maintain: a supportive macro backdrop, declining BTC dominance, and a robust new narrative,” Joanna Liang, founding accomplice of Singapore-based enterprise capital agency Jsquare, instructed Cointelegraph.
“Past cycles had been pushed by clear catalysts: ICOs in 2017–2018, Layer-1s in 2018–2019, and DeFi/NFTs in 2021–2022,” she mentioned earlier than including:
“In this cycle, the market continues to be ready for a compelling primary-market sign that may draw vital new capital and really ignite an altseason.”
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