- Altseason didn’t disappear — it’s happening in fast, intraday bursts too quick for retail traders.
- Smart money rotates profits through micro altseasons, stacking BTC and stables while retail waits.
Everyone’s bracing for altseason — but what if it’s already come and gone?
Since April, a shift has been in progress beneath the surface: five separate altcoin surges have outpaced Bitcoin, not in long sweeping rallies, but in rapid bursts. Market experts say it’s no accident.
Today, investors aren’t waiting for retail euphoria — they’re rotating profits intraday, flipping alts to stack Bitcoin [BTC] and stablecoins.
The rules are changing fast, and if you’re still waiting for the fireworks, you might already be late.
What altseason used to mean
Traditionally, altseason signaled explosive, weeks-long rallies across the altcoin market — driven by retail hype, memecoin frenzies, and Bitcoin consolidation.
Think 2021: Dogecoin [DOGE] to the moon, Solana [SOL] 10x, and X (formerly Twitter) timelines full of overnight millionaires. It was less about strategy, more about sentiment — a powerful wave that lifts all tokens.
But in 2025, the playbook looks very different.
Hidden in plain sight
Between April and late May, the altcoin season index has registered five distinct spikes above the 75% threshold — each one marking a burst of outperformance from altcoins over Bitcoin.
Yet most of these lasted just hours.
Source: Alphractal
On the 1-hour chart, these moments were sharp, fleeting, and often occurred while BTC itself moved sideways or climbed modestly.
Source: Alphractal
But zoom into the 1-minute chart, and an even more frenetic picture emerges: dozens of micro-altseasons, some lasting mere minutes, playing out under the radar.
Source: TradingView
Meanwhile, Bitcoin dominance [BTC.D] remained elevated around 64% at press time, recovering swiftly after each dip.
This is a sign that the capital from these rotations often flows back into BTC or stablecoins, not deeper into altcoins.
Altseason today is faster, harder to spot, and increasingly inaccessible to the average trader. If you’re only watching daily charts, you’re likely missing the real action entirely.
Are micro altseasons the new normal?
Instead of broad, months-long rallies, we’re seeing rapid, sector-specific bursts that play out over days or even hours. Macro-focused traders waiting for clear trends often miss these moves entirely.
Meanwhile, smart money uses algorithms to detect early volume shifts, exploit momentum, and exit before the crowd even notices.
These microcycles reward speed and constant monitoring. To catch them, traders need to watch for rising volume in overlooked pairs, subtle dips in Bitcoin dominance, and short-lived sector rotations.
