- Altcoins are far from out of the picture, despite Bitcoin’s undeniable dominance.
- The era of unpredictable “altcoin seasons” is over, giving way to the steady, calculated rise of altcoin cycles.
There’s no doubt about it – the 2024 cycle was all about Bitcoin[BTC]. Its historic run to $100k left little room for anything else in the spotlight.
However, while Bitcoin commanded attention, AMBCrypto discovered that altcoins weren’t just passive observers.
Contrary to the prevailing narrative, there are clear signs of a subtle, but significant shift. Altcoins are quietly strengthening, building the foundation for their cycle.
While we may not be looking at an “altcoin season” just yet, it’s fair to say an “altcoin cycle” might be a better way to describe the steady capital inflows into this space.
The new crypto reality
To understand where altcoins stand, we first need to check out Bitcoin’s market dominance.
Bitcoin’s leap to six figures wasn’t just a lucky streak – it had some serious political and economic backing.
The Donald Trump administration “knowingly” caught the crypto wave, while BTC solidified its status as a “store of value” for investors big and small.
In fact, even with the usual market ups and downs, Bitcoin’s dominance has shot up nearly 14%, and we’re not even halfway through 2025 – a clear sign that confidence in Bitcoin remains rock-solid.
Sure, altcoins still make up around 30% of the market, but that’s a far cry from when they once stood neck-to-neck with Bitcoin in the 2018-19 cycle.
Thus, it’s safe to say an all-out “altcoin season” isn’t on the horizon anytime soon. Instead, what we’re seeing is the rise of altcoin cycles, where strategic capital inflows are the new normal.
Calculated moves in altcoin investing
In Q4 2024, the TOTAL2 (crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin) surged to a three-year high of $1.64 trillion. Hence, indicating that in a bullish cycle, capital rotates into alternative assets as investors adjust their risk profiles.
More crucially, during the subsequent bear market, TOTAL2 never dipped below the $800 billion floor, signaling that investors were actively buying the dip and keeping the altcoin market from capitulating.
In fact, as TOTAL2 tested pre-election support, it sparked a solid rebound. Fast forward to now, and the altcoin market cap is sitting pretty at $1.05 trillion.
