According to crypto data provider Coinmarketcap, altcoin season starts when 75% of the top 100 tokens outperform bitcoin over a three-month stretch.
Is Altcoin Season Here? Bitcoin’s Market Share Slips
When a token representing a family of digital collectibles named “Pudgy Penguins” (PENGU) outperforms bitcoin ( BTC) seventeen-fold, it’s safe to say altcoin season has arrived. At least that’s how crypto data provider Coinmarketcap objectively identifies the market phase where three quarters of the top 100 coins outpace the dominant cryptocurrency over a 90-day window.
(Coinmarketcap’s Altcoin Season Index suggests we may be at the beginning of a 2025 altcoin season / Coinmarketcap)
Despite soaring to an all-time high of roughly $123,000 last week, bitcoin has since tumbled below $118K, and so has its dominance, which, as of this writing, has dropped to 60.6%. The last time BTC dominance fell to that level was in early March, according to data from Tradingview.
But now even ether ( ETH), which had languished in the red for months, has outperformed bitcoin over the past 90 days, with most of that price appreciation occurring just last week. Other tokens, representing lighthearted themes such as Fartcoin and Pepe have also skyrocketed, pushing bitcoin dominance down, and starting what looks to be 2025’s altcoin season.
