The ascent of Bitcoin (BTC) toward $86,000 during the week pulled alternative cryptocurrencies upward as the entire sector’s valuation crossed back over $3 trillion.
Key points:
- Glassnode’s Altcoin Cycle Signal printed a new “altcoin season” indicator after climbing to 81.25 out of a maximum 100.
- Bitcoin dominance, which measures BTC’s market share of digital assets, failed to push past 60% and has remained confined to a range over the past month.
- On Monday, both Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds registered their largest daily capital inflows since October 2025.
Altcoin Cycle Signal turns to favor alternative coins over Bitcoin
A proprietary index created by onchain analytics firm Glassnode issued a fresh “altcoin season” reading this week following recent gains across the crypto market.
The Glassnode Altcoin Cycle Signal, which measures the market capitalization of the top 250 largest digital assets compared to Bitcoin, has shifted to support altcoin outperformance. Altcoin season — widely known within the digital asset space as ‘altseason’ — defines periods where altcoins exceed Bitcoin regarding combined market capitalization growth. Glassnode’s indicator issues “altcoin season” alerts when the comparative market cap expansion of the top 250 altcoins, excluding stablecoins, temporarily outpaces Bitcoin. The exact computational methodology is not publicly revealed.
The seven-day moving average for the Altcoin Cycle Signal registered 81.25 on a standardized scale of 0 to 100 as of Monday.
“The first rally in August saw altcoins stay relatively flat while BTC moved. However, today’s rally has ignited the full breadth of the altcoin market,” Glassnode reported in a post on X.
The aggregated altcoin market valuation hit $1.19 trillion on Tuesday, touching its highest point since late January. Alternative tokens have grown their market capitalization by 33% since August 19, when crypto markets experienced sudden upward momentum driven by a United States Treasury announcement regarding bond market interventions.
Total altcoin market cap one-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Conversely, Bitcoin’s share of the overall cryptocurrency market cap has continued to trade within a tight corridor since then, standing currently at 59.7% compared to 59.2% on August 19.
Discussing this current market behavior, investor and commentator Matthew Hyland pointed out a sense of “complacency” among Bitcoin holders, implying that dominance had already established a macro peak when it touched 66% in June 2025. He stated on Saturday that market participants have remained hesitant to accept Bitcoin’s lack of relative gains against alternative assets since that time.
BTC dominance of crypto market cap one-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Cryptocurrency ETFs experience generalized recovery in capital inflows
Digital asset exchange-traded funds showcase a widespread resurgence in purchaser interest across both Bitcoin and altcoin financial products during the week.
Related: Kyle Samani predicts SOL flippening, claims ‘no one’ uses ETH
On Monday, United States spot Bitcoin ETFs brought in collective net inflows of $999 million, while Ether (ETH) funds captured $270 million. In both instances, the daily totals represented the greatest figures since October 2025, according to statistics from British investment firm Farside Investors.
As Cointelegraph noted, the combined purchase cost basis for Bitcoin ETF buyers rested just under $86,000 as of the close of last week, with BTC/USD currently trying to secure that zone as support.
Bitcoin, Ether ETF netflows data. Source: Farside Investors
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Originally published at https://cointelegraph.com/markets/crypto-metric-signals-altseason-as-bitcoin-market-cap-share-stalls-below-60?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound.
