Will Altseason Hit in 2025? 10 Key Signs to Watch

In crypto, “altseason” refers to a short but intense period when capital flows out of Bitcoin and into other crypto assets. This large-scale reallocation drives the prices and market caps of a wide range of altcoins (aka “alts”) sharply higher. As a result, the portfolios of investors who got into altcoins earlier in the cycle can suddenly spike in value.

Altseason is one of the best windows for investing in non-Bitcoin crypto assets - but it doesn’t come without risk. High returns tend to bring high volatility, and traders who fall victim to FOMO often end up chasing pumps and losing money.

In this manual, we’ll cover:

— what altseason actually is;
— what early signals to watch for on the market;
— whether an altseason could realistically happen in 2025;
— and how to track it: key metrics and where to find them.

10 Key Signs That Altseason Is Coming

Altseason usually kicks off on the back of a fresh wave of hype or a robust new narrative. But before that narrative goes full steam, the market often starts sending early signals like these:

A drop in Bitcoin dominance

Bitcoin Dominance refers to BTC’s share of the total crypto market cap. It’s one of the most important technical indicators for spotting the early stages of an altseason.

The typical cycle looks like this: BTC rallies в†’ stabilizes в†’ starts losing dominance. A clean break below a psychological threshold (like 50%) is often a clear sign that an altseason could be around the corner.

A strong rally among major altcoins

Altseason is famous for sending small-cap tokens flying. But before that happens, the majors usually wake up first - Ethereum, Solana, MATIC, and others. When these heavyweights start showing consistent growth for a month or more, it’s a reliable early signal that momentum is shifting.

A sharp rise in Total2

Total2 is the metric that tracks total crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin. A strong upward move - especially one that breaks previous highs - can indicate broad-based capital rotation into altcoins.

Retail and memecoin activity picks up

Before altseason fully takes off, you’ll often hear a growing buzz around new hyped memecoins launching on Solana or other chains. This usually coincides with spikes in Google searches, new wallet creation, and — naturally — more token launches.

DeFi volumes start to surge

A major altseason indicator is rising liquidity on DEXs like Uniswap, Raydium, and others, paired with a jump in TVL -Total Value Locked across DeFi protocols. It’s a sign that users are starting to move capital and chase returns.

Altcoin strength in BTC pairs

Another strong signal: altcoins begin gaining ground not just in dollar terms, but in BTC pairs like ETH/BTC or SOL/BTC. While BTC may still be rising on its own, strength in these pairs suggests the market is ready to rotate some liquidity out of Bitcoin and into riskier assets.

Accumulation before the breakout

Altcoins that have been stuck at the bottom for months begin to quietly consolidate, with low but steady volume. Big, headline-making pumps might still be rare — but from a technical analysis standpoint, you’ll start to see the first signs of a trend reversal: higher lows, breakouts, and structure flipping bullish.

A shift in narrative

Altseasons almost always follow a fresh narrative. It could be a newly launched L2 chain, an innovative derivatives protocol, a novel token standard - or anything else that gets crypto Twitter excited.

Surge in social media chatter (X, Reddit, Telegram)

Influencers begin amplifying the new narratives, promoting memecoins and obscure tokens. Mentions of crypto projects surge across X, Reddit, and Telegram - often faster than the actual price action.

Speculation in new ecosystems

Emerging chains start to show signs of life: on-chain metrics climb, pre-launch speculation intensifies, “farming seasons” begin, and the hunt for the next airdrop is in full swing.

Let’s now take a look at how previous altseasons played out.

Altseason #1: The ICO Boom

At the turn of 2017–2018, two major forces converged to set the stage for altseason. Bitcoin experienced a dramatic price surge followed by an equally sharp correction — from $20,000 down to $6,000. At the same time, the ICO boom took off, with a flood of projects launching and raising capital through token offerings.

As a result, significant liquidity flowed out of a declining BTC and into rising altcoins. Bitcoin dominance fell from over 86% to 39%. While many ICOs failed to live up to their promises and the era of truly valuable dApps had yet to arrive, that altseason forced skeptics to rethink altcoins entirely, showing that crypto was about more than just Bitcoin.

Altseason #2: The DeFi Boom, NFTs, and the Rise of Memecoins

2021 was a year of ultra-loose monetary policy across much of the world - and aggressive fiscal stimulus in the United States. The global economy hadn’t fully recovered from the COVID shock, but the flood of liquidity had to go somewhere. Investors and crypto natives alike started looking for places to put it.

That search lit a fire under DeFi. Yield farming and staking exploded. dApps took off. Liquidity pools multiplied. The entire DeFi space surged forward. At the same time, we saw the first true NFT boom, the debut of viral memecoins like DOGE and SHIBA, the rise of serious GameFi experiments, and even the first wave of blockchain-based metaverses.

Just like in the previous cycle, many of those projects didn’t survive. But the altseason gave the industry another major push forward.

By spring 2021, BTC dominance had fallen from 70% to 38%. On April 16, the Altseason Index hit 98, which was a record high.

So What Exactly Is the Altseason Index?

Let’s be clear: the Altseason Index doesn’t predict anything. It doesn’t try to forecast the future or guess when a pump is coming. Instead, it looks back - and tells us whether the altcoin market has already entered a phase of outperformance relative to Bitcoin.

The methodology is easy, but surprisingly effective for what it aims to do. The index compares the 90-day performance of Bitcoin and 50 major altcoins. If 75% of those altcoins have outperformed BTC over that period, the index signals that we’re in an altseason.

It’s a retrospective signal. But that doesn’t make it useless - on the contrary, it can confirm what you’re already suspecting based on other indicators.

Here’s how to read it:

• 0–24: Bitcoin Season. Most altcoins are underperforming BTC. Risk appetite is low.
• 25–49: Neutral or Transition Phase. Some alts are heating up, but the market is still cautious.
• 50–74: Altseason Might Be Brewing. A growing number of alts are outpacing Bitcoin.
• 75–100: Full-Blown Altseason. The rotation has happened. Capital is flowing quick.

As of writing, the index sits around 35. That puts us squarely in neutral territory - in 2025, we haven’t signs of euphoria yet, but the groundwork may be forming.

Why Are So Many People Dreaming About Altseason?

Speculation. Аs we’ve already mentioned, altseason is a time of wild pumps and serious volatility. Traders love that kind of environment—especially in a bull market.

Momentum for growth. Every altseason leaves a trail of breakthroughs: new tech, bold experiments, and a rush of institutional interest in the next big thing.

Project revival. See above. More capital means new launches, more builders, and a stronger, louder industry overall.

The chance to finally offload illiquid bags from the last cycle. Hey, no judgment - we’ve all been there.

I’m a Junior Crypto Analyst. How Do I Catch Altseason?

If you're dreaming of catching the next altseason early, here’s your checklist. 

BTC dominance. You can track it on CoinMarketCap or TradingView. A dip toward 50% is an early warning sign. If it slips into the 50–45% range — altseason potential is getting serious.

ETH/BTC ratio. Look for a local uptrend, a series of higher lows, and clean breakouts through resistance levels (say, 0.06, 0.07, and beyond).

Major altcoin ROI. Head to CoinGecko or CMC → Performance tabs. If large caps are consistently outperforming BTC over 30–60–90 days, the odds are stacking in favor of a rotation.

Total2. On TradingView, use the ticker CRYPTOCAP:TOTAL2. What you’re watching for: trend reversal, breakout from local resistance, strong candles with convincing volume.

The Altseason Index. As we said earlier, it’s a lagging indicator, not predictive—but it’s still a solid confirmation tool when other signs are already lining up.

DEX and DeFi volume. Use platforms like DeFiLlama or dashboards on Dune. Sudden spikes in TVL on major L2s, zk-rollups, and emerging ecosystems are worth noting.

Narrative signals. Track trending topics on Google Trends, CryptoPanic, or X hashtags. When hype kicks in, it usually leaves a trail of posts, videos, and search spikes.

Memecoin and low-cap mania. You’ll spot it via DEXScreener (check Solana, Base, Arbitrum, etc.) or via Telegram bots scraping new listings and volume surges.

If most of these indicators start blinking green - the window may be opening. Altseason might not be here yet, but it’s probably stretching its legs.

Good hunting out there!