Altcoin is experiencing positive changes, but why are ETH and DOGE left behind?

While Bitcoin has the potential to reach a new all-time high (ATH), the interest rate trajectory of the Federal Reserve in America (Fed) and Trump's rhetoric on tariffs remain important macro variables, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: the comprehensive alt season has yet to arrive.

However, some altcoins are attracting new capital flows, while others are declining. The level of change is not too significant, but it can help us understand investor sentiment.

The actual market capitalization indicates that market strategies are changing

This altcoin season seems different. Instead of rushing into old favorite coins like Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE), which are transitioning to faster chains with more utility.

In fact, both ETH and DOGE have seen incoming capital flows drop by more than 50% compared to the period from 2018 to 2022.

Meanwhile, networks like Solana (SOL), Tron (TRX) and other high-throughput chains are absorbing liquidity, thanks to real-world use cases.

The chart below clearly illustrates this trend: The real market capitalization of Ethereum has sharply decreased in the current cycle after reaching a peak of 170 billion dollars in the 2018–2022 cycle.

This decrease closely aligns with the weakening dominance rate, sliding from a peak of 26% in Q2 2018 to just 9.13% at the time of writing.

Source: GlassnodeUnlike market capitalization, real capitalization reflects the actual capital flowing into assets. It tracks the value of coins based on the price at which they last moved on-chain.

So, when the real capitalization increases, it signals real investment activity, such as investors buying at a higher price, moving them on-chain, or actively repricing the network.

While ETH and DOGE may still record solid year-over-year network activity growth, they are unable to keep up with the capital inflow of previous cycles, indicating that new money is not entering at the same pace.

Some altcoins challenge the cyclical trend

Dogecoin is also feeling the impact of the saturated memecoin context. After reaching a dominance level of over 3% during the price surge in 2021, DOGE is currently struggling to surpass the 1% mark.

Meanwhile, Solana and Ripple (XRP) are not the coins with the highest price performance this year, but compared to other large-cap coins, they have recorded a growth of nearly 2 times in actual capital inflow.

The coin with the most outstanding performance is Toncoin (TON), recording an increase of 820% in real market capitalization, rising from 500 million dollars to 4.68 billion dollars. In fact, the dominance rate of this coin reached 1.1% in May 2024, just as it peaked at 8.24 dollars, proving this point. This moment is not coincidental. It highlights how real capital flows can act as a leading signal for price movements.

TON.D | Source: TradingViewMore importantly, what ties all these altcoins together is that they are driven by utility. They are building usable networks with practical applications and high throughput. This shift says a lot about the leading position of the market.

Therefore, the alt season is no longer just a craze. Investors are looking towards projects that can scale, move quickly, and truly deliver results, especially in an increasingly competitive space.

Dinh Dinh