Today, bitcoin (BTC) neared $83,000, a level it hasn’t seen since late January.
And according to on-chain analytics firm Santiment, the uptick has positively affected market sentiment, helping push up the prices of several tokens and stirring whispers that altcoin season may be coming.
Altcoins Are Stirring After Bitcoin Clears Key Level
Data shared by Santiment on May 6 showed tokens such as Toncoin (TON), Internet Computer (ICP), Cardano (ADA), SUI, ONDO, and Hyperliquid (HYPE) opening the week in positive territory.
“Some mild whispers of altseason are beginning to emerge,” wrote Santiment. “Bitcoin’s own emergence above $81.7K has allowed profits to begin trickling into long-dormant projects.”
Its internal screener showed daily gains of up to 17% for ICP and 16% for TON, while ONDO and ADA posted more modest moves near 5%. On a seven-day view, ONDO climbed roughly 23%, ICP added 16%, and Dogecoin (DOGE) gained around 15%.
One of the biggest performers was Zcash (ZEC), which went up by nearly 40% in the last 24 hours and 76% over the past week, per CoinGecko data.
Analyst Darkfost also shared some information regarding the altcoin setup, pointing out that their market cap, excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, tracked as TOTAL3 had risen by approximately 15% from its low in February.
In addition, he said that 11.7% of alternative cryptocurrencies listed on Binance have now reclaimed their 200-day moving average, up from just 2.3% in early February, and called it “an initial signal of recovery.”
Their trading volumes on Binance have also improved, with their share relative to combined BTC and ETH volumes rising from 31% to 49% over the past two months.
Still a Long way From Full Rotation
The broader picture is still firmly in bitcoin’s favor, considering that BTC dominance is currently sitting at around 58.6% per CoinGecko, while CoinGlass’s Altcoin Season Index, which measures how many of the top 100 tokens have outperformed BTC over a rolling 90-day window, sits at 40 out of 100.
A confirmed altseason requires a reading above 75. Put simply, the majority of altcoins are still losing ground to bitcoin when you zoom out.
Additionally, the alternative coins currently garnering the most interest are also selective, clustering around only a handful of themes like AI, DeFi projects, and some old layer-1 networks, which have been overlooked for many months now.
According to Darkfost, the recovery in altcoins is “moderate.” He further said, “This type of shift can precede a more pronounced rotation phase within the market,” even though he didn’t outrightly claim that such a change was already underway.
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