Altcoins have taken a leading role in the latest crypto market rally, as trading activity and market capitalization surged alongside Bitcoin’s sharp move higher. This comes after an extended period of low volatility and subdued trading volumes.
According to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, investor attention and capital have moved strongly toward altcoins, “potentially signaling a broader resurgence of risk appetite across the market.”
Biggest Dominance Surge in 2 Years
Bitcoin gained nearly 25% over the past week, while altcoins significantly amplified the broader market trend. The total altcoin market capitalization, measured through Total2 and excluding Ethereum, increased by around $135 billion during the same period. Darkfost said that the scale of the move highlights how quickly capital has entered the altcoin segment.
A notable change was also seen in trading activity. On Binance, which represents nearly 40% of altcoin trading volume across exchanges, these tokens accounted for as much as 65% of total volume at their peak. At that point, Bitcoin made up just 21% of volume, while Ethereum accounted for 13.6%.
Darkfost explained that altcoins had not held this much of Binance’s trading volume in two years. The gap between the assets indicates a clear redistribution of liquidity across the market, as these tokens attracted a larger share of trading activity than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The shift came after several announcements from Trump on August 19, including his call for the US to purchase large amounts of BTC and for Congress to pass the Clarity Act. Darkfost said the announcements helped push liquidity into altcoins.
Impulse Surges to 93%
The strength is also showing up in market breadth. Altcoin Vector said its ‘Altcoin Impulse’ reading jumped to 93%, which suggested that the rally has spread across a large part of the market. However, it considers breadth above 75% overextended, meaning the move could face exhaustion or a reset.
Analyst Matthew Hyland had previously predicted that alts could deliver returns of 10x to 1000x, comparing the June sell-off to the March 2020 market collapse. Hyland had said that June was essentially an altcoin version of the 2020 crash and pointed to Ethereum, Cardano and other tokens as examples that could see outsized gains if the comparison plays out.
He had also said many of these tokens could recover within a few months rather than taking years to regain lost ground.
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