$SOL Solana leads among top altcoins, while ETH approaches its all-time high.
On Wednesday, the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency system approached the $4.2 trillion mark after significant daily gains from several major altcoins. According to reports, the total market capitalization was at $4.189 trillion around 6 AM Eastern Time, marking a new all-time high.
After falling just below $3.8 trillion when Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $113,000 on August 6, the crypto economy has recovered, adding over 10% during this period. This was largely supported by Ethereum (ETH), which at the time of writing was approaching its all-time high.
Unlike previous weeks when XRP and ETH seemed to lead the altcoin rally, Solana (SOL) emerged as the top winner among major altcoins, rising 15% in 24 hours. The double-digit gain of SOL on August 13 allowed the digital asset to test the $200 mark for the first time since July 23. Since August 2, when it fell just above $156, SOL has increased by nearly 30%, making it one of the best major altcoins this month.
Meanwhile, the rise of Solana pushed its total market capitalization to approximately $109 billion, which is just $10 billion less than the fifth-ranked BNB, which at the time of writing was just under $119 billion.
At the same time, despite an acceleration of about 6% in just 24 hours, BNB still matched the peak set on July 28 at $856. Cardano (ADA) and Dogecoin (DOGE) were other notable altcoins that showed significant increases over the 24-hour period, rising 11.7% and 9.1%, respectively.
Despite the impressive surge among these top altcoins, which significantly reduced Bitcoin's (BTC) dominance from about 60% to just over 57%, the market is not yet in an official altcoin season, according to some analysts. This cautious stance is supported by key market indicators, such as the Altcoin Season Index, which is currently at 41.
This figure is significantly below the threshold of 75, which is traditionally required to officially declare the start of a true altcoin season. This suggests that while capital is shifting, widespread and sustained growth across the altcoin market has not yet begun.
