Altcoins May Soon Rally as Ethereum Leads the Pack

According to some market metrics, the time for altcoins to shine, commonly referred to as ‘alt season,’ may be just around the corner.

Bitcoin has been on fire in 2023, gaining more than 80% since the beginning of the year. However, the altcoins have not been given much love, with only minor gains in comparison.

Alt season usually follows a Bitcoin rally, and analysts suggest it could be on the horizon.

On April 16, crypto trader and analyst “Skew” highlighted a couple of observations on markets and altcoins.

He noted that altcoins and Ethereum (ETH) were leading in 24-hour volume. Furthermore, there has been a “large OI [open interest] shift to altcoins here,” he added.

OI is a measure of the number of active crypto derivatives contracts that are still open and have yet to be settled.

Alt Season Approaching?

The analyst also observed that Bitcoin’s dominance had started to decline. According to TradingView, BTC dominance has fallen almost 4% in less than a week. The decline is due to Ethereum’s rally following the successful Shapella upgrade on April 12.

Bitcoin dominance is currently 47.06%, and it has failed to top 50% for two years, the last time being in April 2021.

The analyst commented:

“When BTC Dominance is declining that implies altcoin appreciation in the near term. However, when BTC Dominance is gaining there’s flight to safety in the market.”

Additionally, there was a comparison to previous cycles. The analyst stated that there are “some similarities between 2021 bottom consolidation when BTC showed strength first before a greater market rally.”

Furthermore, Ethereum appears to be leading the altcoins as it did before. “If ETH is actually showing strength here, some altcoins are well undervalued,” he said.

Commenting on the Ethereum rally, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes hinted at a return of alt season late last week.

Altcoins Lackluster

Crypto markets have been relatively quiet over the weekend. In the past 24 hours, total capitalization has been stable at $1.32 trillion.

Altcoins are a mixed bag of red and green, with only a handful making any notable moves. Binance Coin (BNB) has made 5% on the day touching $350 for the first time since early November.

Furthermore, Solana (SOL) is up 6% to trade at $25.81 at the time of writing. Avalanche (AVAX) is another solid performer, adding 8.8% on the day to reach $20.83.

However, the rest of the altcoins have not done much, so alt season may have to wait a little longer.