Altcoin season in 2025 is highly anticipated, but it's yet to begin. Currently, Bitcoin is dominating the market, with the Altcoin Season Index at 16%, indicating only 16% of the top 100 altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin over the last 90 days. Bitcoin's market share stands at 57.9% of the total market capitalization.
Key Indicators to Watch:
- Bitcoin Dominance: A sharp decline in Bitcoin dominance could signal the start of altcoin season. Currently, it's relatively high, suggesting altcoins haven't taken the lead yet.
- Ethereum's Market Performance: Ethereum's breakout in ETH/BTC could mark the beginning of altcoin season. Its continued improvements in scalability, like Layer-2 adoption and the upcoming Pectra upgrade, might provide infrastructure for a broader altcoin surge.
- Regulatory Clarity: Positive regulatory developments, such as Spot ETF approvals and clarity around DeFi tokens, staking rewards, and stablecoins, could legitimize altcoins and encourage institutional capital.
- Economic Conditions: A pivot towards accommodative monetary policies, like rate cuts or slowing Quantitative Tightening, could boost liquidity and trigger altcoin season
Potential Triggers:
- Institutional Adoption: Tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) could drive demand for altcoins like Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche.
- Sector-Specific Trends: Opportunities might arise in AI, DeFi, and Layer-2 solutions as capital rotation begins.
Expert Predictions:
- Most experts think an altcoin boom is likely to start in late 2025, especially if Bitcoin's influence weakens.
- Investors are focusing on niche opportunities, like meme coins or presale tokens with high staking rewards, to profit early