- The Altcoin Season Index calculates whether markets are favoring bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies
- Digital asset investors have gravitated toward bitcoin all year as prices have tumbled
Just 15 of the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market value have outperformed bitcoin (BTC) over the past 90 days — indicating we’re still far from the much-loved “altcoin season.”
Blockchain Center’s Altcoin Season Index gauges the temperature of digital asset markets by separating sentiment into two heady modes: bitcoin and altcoin.
An “altcoin” is considered a derogatory label for much of the cryptocurrency sector, subtly denigrating anything that isn’t the original digital asset.
Still, the index serves as an effective tool for mapping where investors’ heads are at when it comes to diversifying away from the blue chips.
How it works: Altcoin season has arrived when more than 75% of the top 50 cryptocurrencies (38 or more) have outperformed BTC over the past 90 days. The index filters out stablecoins and asset-backed tokens such as wrapped bitcoin and Lido staked ether.
On the flip side, we’re firmly in bitcoin season if fewer than 25% of the top 50 digital assets have outperformed BTC.
The most recent prolonged altcoin season occurred in 2021, between late March and the last week of June. At the time, BTC was hovering around $60,000 before collapsing 40%, to $34,000.
But crypto markets trended heavily toward bitcoin season throughout July 2021, and formally entered BTC mode for nearly two weeks in August of that year.
Blockchain Center’s index bounced between the two seasons for six months — except for two days in January, when crypto markets briefly propelled altcoin returns beyond bitcoin’s.
Bitcoin miner capitulation could summon altcoin season
The index indicates we’re not currently…
