$ETH The rules of altcoin wave leading to avoid peak (part 1)
Today I will share my hard-earned experience in previous altcoin cycles to help you avoid peaking. If you find it useful, please give me a follow.
I analyze more clearly from the perspective of cash flow cycles (Market Rotation) and speculative waves:
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1. Common rules seen in an altcoin cycle
• Wave 1 (Leading wave)
Strong bluechip / layer-1 / coins with strong fundamentals, high liquidity (e.g., ETH, SOL, AVAX, INJ, UNI, LDO…) usually lead the way.
→ Reason: institutional cash flow + whales need safety and liquidity.
• Wave 2 (Spreading to mid-cap, small-cap)
When the leading coins surge too strongly, retail investors feel it’s “too late” → cash flow shifts to coins that haven’t run but have a fundamental story.
→ During this stage, many mid-cap altcoins pump 200–500%.
• Wave 3 (Meme coin, lowcap, shitcoin)
This is when cash flow fomo is extremely strong, many fundamentally weak coins still increase by 5x, 10x.
→ This is also a signal that the cycle is about to peak.
Why do many people tend to peak in wave 2?
• Wave 1: Patient people accumulate from the bottom → reap large profits.
• Wave 2: Retail fomo, thinking it’s still early → but in reality, they are in the “late majority”.
• Wave 3: Extreme fomo → often creates cycle peaks → those who enter late get caught in “collective peak chasing”.
Comparison with previous cycles
• 2017: BTC → ETH/LTC → midcap → shitcoin/meme → crash.
• 2021: BTC → ETH/SOL/BNB → midcap/DeFi/NFT → meme (DOGE, SHIBA) → crash.
• 2024–2025: Likelihood of repeating a similar scenario.
The optimal strategy is:
• Enter in wave 1 – the beginning of wave 2, avoid wave 3.
• When meme coins start to lead strongly → the market is usually near the end of the cycle. $INJ