1. The concept and background of Altcoin Season

“Altcoin Season” refers to a phase or period in which market funds and attention begin to shift from Bitcoin (BTC) to other cryptocurrencies (also known as “altcoins”). This term first appeared in the early cryptocurrency community to describe situations where the price increase of cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin significantly outperforms Bitcoin itself during certain periods. As Bitcoin, as the largest cryptocurrency, occupies a considerable market share, any favorable movements for altcoins may be interpreted as a signal that the “Altcoin Season” is approaching.

From an application perspective, Altcoin Season belongs to the field of cryptocurrency market trends and indices, with the goal of helping investors and traders identify market directions. When altcoins as a whole outperform Bitcoin, it usually means that market risk appetite is increasing, and investors are more willing to hold high-volatility altcoins in the hope of higher potential returns. Once in Altcoin Season, it is often accompanied by relatively intensive new token issuances, increased trading activity, and rapid growth of various token ecosystems.

2. The historical development of Altcoin Season

2.1 The earliest concept germination

As early as 2017, with the rapid rise of Ethereum and a batch of ERC-20 Coins, altcoins have continuously surged in trading volume and market value, attracting a lot of attention. At that time, although Bitcoin still led in total market value, many altcoin projects such as XRP, LTC, BCH, etc., saw significant multiples increase, gradually forming the concept of “Altcoin Season” to describe a special period when assets other than Bitcoin experience an outbreak.

2.2 oscillation between 2018 and 2019

From 2018 to 2019, the entire cryptocurrency market experienced a sharp correction. The price of Bitcoin plummeted rapidly, and altcoins suffered a significant decline. During this period, there was no particularly obvious ‘Altcoin Season,’ but it also left the market with the lesson that once risk aversion is strong, funds tend to withdraw from more volatile altcoins and instead embrace relatively ‘safe’ Bitcoin or fiat currency for hedging.

2.3 2020 to 2021 outbreak

Between 2020 and 2021, concepts such as DeFi (Decentralized Finance), NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens), and GameFi have emerged successively. A large number of emerging projects have emerged, rapidly boosting the performance of altcoins in terms of market share and investment returns. At this time, the commonly mentioned ‘Altcoin Season’ index has crossed high thresholds multiple times, indicating that funds have rotated from Bitcoin to innovative public chains and application layer assets such as Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Polygon, and others. According to some statistics, the highest increase of certain altcoins during this phase far exceeds Bitcoin by ten times or even a hundred times.

2.4 Differentiation from 2022 to 2023

After entering 2022, the overall cryptocurrency market has experienced a combination of multiple macroeconomic and industry negative events, with both Bitcoin and altcoins experiencing some pullback. However, some altcoins focusing on Layer2 solutions and cross-chain technology still perform well, showing structural differentiation in the market. For example, some Rollup-related Coins saw a brief small peak in early 2023, but did not form a widespread Altcoin Season.

2.5 The current situation from 2024 to 2025

As of 03/04/2025, we observed that the Altcoin Season-related index is at a relatively low level, which means that the overall performance of altcoins is slightly inferior to Bitcoin. The following text will provide a detailed analysis based on the latest data.

3. Key Indicators of Altcoin Season

3.1 Blockchain Center Altcoin Season Index latest data

According to Blockchain Center As of the latest data released by 03/04 2025, the Altcoin Season Index is 24, indicating “It’s Bitcoin Season!” This means that altcoins are performing relatively poorly compared to Bitcoin, with a large number of altcoin projects lagging behind Bitcoin in profitability over the past 90 days. When the index is around 25 or below, it usually indicates that Bitcoin’s market attention and price increase are more prominent, while the popularity or fund inflow of altcoins is slightly insufficient.

Source:Altcoin Season Index - Blockchain Center

3.2 CMC Altcoin Season Index Latest Data

According to CoinMarketCapThe ‘Altcoin Season Index’ shows a current value of 16/100, indicating that the market is in a ‘Bitcoin Season’ rather than an ‘Altcoin Season.’ The annual high point recorded by CMC was 87 on 12/03/2024 (typical Altcoin Season), while the annual low point occurred on 09/02/2024 with a value of 13 (typical Bitcoin Season), demonstrating significant fluctuations in this index over the past year.

Source:CMC Altcoin Season Index

3.3 Comparison of Data between Two Companies

Both attempt to quantify the market performance of Bitcoin and altcoins over a period of time (commonly 90 days) within the range of 0-100 and determine whether an ‘Altcoin Season’ is entered based on the overall rise of altcoins relative to Bitcoin.

• High values (usually above 75): Shitcoins generally outperform Bitcoin, belonging to the typical “Altcoin Season”.
• Low values (usually below 25): Bitcoin performs strongly, often referred to as “Bitcoin Season”.

It is important to note that this index is just a reference and does not represent a 100% accurate market trend prediction. However, many investors and analysts will combine this index with other data such as Bitcoin market share, fund flow reports, etc., to make comprehensive judgments.

4. The core factors of Altcoin Season

In the field of cryptocurrency, market sentiment often exhibits rapid rotation. What factors drive altcoins to significantly outperform Bitcoin in specific time periods? Mainly include the following aspects:

1. Bitcoin linked to the macro environment
   When Bitcoin rises sharply due to macroeconomic factors or institutional capital inflows, the rotation of altcoins usually lags behind; only when Bitcoin enters a relatively stable period or reaches a phase of a top, funds may shift to the altcoin market, forming an ‘Altcoin Season’.

2. New Concepts and Hot Ecology
   Shanzhai coins usually carry more innovative concepts, such as DeFi, NFT, GameFi, Layer2, cross-chain bridging, etc. Once a new ‘upswing’ appears, it will quickly drive capital to chase after such projects, thereby outperforming Bitcoin.

3. Community-driven
   The community attribute of the cottage currency is often stronger, and many community activities or viral spread can cause a specific Coin to rise several times or even tens of times in a short period. If such projects erupt more concentratedly, they will lead the market into Altcoin Season.

4. Exchange or ecosystem support
   After some popular altcoins are listed on specific platforms (such as Gate) and receive significant resource allocation or market promotion, they are also prone to explosive growth. Extensive listings and capital inflows are often important catalysts for Altcoin Season.

5. Policies and Compliance
   The regulatory policies of various countries on encrypted assets will also affect the capital allocation of altcoins and bitcoins. If bitcoin is under high regulatory risk, altcoins with outstanding compliance or public chain value may be favored by institutions or retail investors, leading to a new round of rotation.

5. How to track and trade altcoins on Gate

As an important cryptocurrency platform in the industry, Gate provides users with a rich variety of altcoin trading and on-chain data query functions. To track the altcoin market during Altcoin Season, investors should pay attention to the following points:

1. Watch the market sector
   Gate often categorizes and displays DeFi, public chains, NFT, GameFi, Layer2, and other thematic sections. If one of these sections shows the highest overall increase, it may become a leading indicator of Altcoin Season.

2. Use professional market tools
   Gate provides tools such as K-line, depth chart, and volume comparison to help users quickly judge the trend and fund flow of current altcoins.

3. By leveraging on-chain analysis and announcements
   In the project details page or announcement area of Gate, you can often see the latest updates from the project team or contract change information. From this, you can track whether some hot coins have major positive news or technical upgrades.

4. Risk Control
   During the possible arrival or ongoing Altcoin Season, it is even more important to manage funds and control risks, such as staggered positions and setting stop-profit and stop-loss orders.

Source:Gate.io Innovation Zone

6. Summary

Overall, Altcoin Season is an important cyclical phenomenon in the cryptocurrency market. It not only represents the short-term gains of altcoins relative to Bitcoin, but also symbolizes the concentrated release of innovation and risk appetite. Currently, analysis of the altcoin season index from Blockchain Center and CoinMarketCap indicates that the market overall still leans towards a ‘Bitcoin season.’ For altcoins to collectively strengthen, they need more capital and catalysis of hot concepts.

However, after experiencing multiple rotations, altcoins have made significant progress in ecosystem applications, technological research and development, community scale, etc., forming a more solid market foundation. For investors who are interested in layout or continuously paying attention to this field, timely tracking core indicators, observing macro and industry trends, and combining on-chain data and AI models for rational analysis will help better grasp the potential opportunities of the next Altcoin Season, while effectively avoiding the risks brought by market volatility.