Is altcoin season here? CryptoQuant CEO: This "selective" altcoin season is different from the past

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju claimed, "The altcoin season has begun." (Alt Season refers to small and medium-sized coins other than BTC). However, this market change is different from the past, how should investors interpret it?

Ki Young Ju: This altcoin season is different from the past!

BTC market share is no longer the determining factor

He said that traditionally, the start of the altcoin season is closely related to the decline in Bitcoin (BTC) market dominance. However, Ki Young Ju emphasized that BTC market dominance is no longer the key to determining the altcoin season, the real key indicator is trading volume.

Based on his observation:

The trading volume of altcoin has reached 2.7 times that of Bitcoin, indicating that market funds are flowing heavily into altcoin.

Stablecoin holders are directly turning to altcoins instead of rotating funds through BTC, which is different from historical trends.

This time is the "selective" altcoin season, only altcoins with strong use cases and market narratives will succeed.

Investors should conduct independent research (DYOR, Do Your Own Research) to avoid blindly following the crowd.

These views indicate that there are significant changes in market capital flows, and investors need to reassess their trading strategies.

Market status: Data supports the surge in altcoin trading volume?

Latest market data (February 21, 2025)

According to the data from CoinGecko, the key data of the current market are as follows:

Indicator values Total cryptocurrency market cap $3.359 trillion USD BTC market cap $1.949 trillion USD (58% market share) altcoin market cap $1.41 trillion USD 24-hour total trading volume $959.2 billion USD BTC trading volume $309 billion USD altcoin trading volume (estimated) $650.2 billion USD (about 2.1 times that of BTC)

It is worth noting that although the trading volume of altcoins does exceed BTC, the data shows that the ratio is 2.1 times, not 2.7 times as stated by Ki Young Ju. This may be influenced by different data sources, calculation methods, or specific time periods of different exchanges.

Stablecoin becomes a source of funding, disrupting the market model

The traditional capital rotation mode is broken

In the past, the altcoin season was usually driven by BTC funds flowing into altcoins, that is, investors would first exchange BTC for altcoins. However, this market is showing a significantly different trend:

Stablecoin (such as USDT, USDC) funds are flowing directly into altcoin instead of cycling through BTC.

This means that the altcoin market has gained a new source of funding independent of BTC and no longer needs to rely on BTC's declining market share to drive growth.

Currently, the total market value of the stablecoin market is approximately 233 billion US dollars (CoinGecko information), providing strong liquidity to the market and enabling investors to trade more flexibly.

This is consistent with the market discussion in January 2025, when Ki Young Ju mentioned: 'The altcoin market is a zero-sum PvP game with limited overall liquidity.' This means that not all altcoins can benefit from this wave of capital inflows, only specific projects will perform well.

Is this altcoin season for this article? CryptoQuant CEO: This "selective" altcoin season is different from the past first appeared on ChainNews ABMedia.