Altseason index hits highest level this year: Here’s what traders think

Social media hype over crypto altseason is ramping up again this week as altcoin market indicators have reached their highest levels this year. 

Both the Blockchain Center and CoinGlass’ altcoin season index show a score of 76 out of 100, while CoinMarketCap’s altseason indicator is slightly lower at 67, though all three show they’re at their highest levels since December.

The Blockchain Center criteria for altseason are if 75% of the top 50 crypto assets have performed better than Bitcoin over the last 90 days.

Altseason is seen as a period in each bull market where altcoins make meteoric gains compared to Bitcoin. However, the timing of this year has been hard to pin down. 

Altseason is here, according to the Blockchain Center. Source: Blockchain Center

What altcoin traders think will happen next

Meanwhile, total altcoin market capitalization is nearing the 2021 all-time high, observed crypto trader “Daan Crypto Trades” on Wednesday. 

“Once we do see the altcoin market as a whole back in price discovery, I expect that to kick off some wider excitement and risk on for alts,” he said before adding that this will also help with attracting new market participants.

“With the altseason index at its strongest reading in nine months, traders are beginning to lean risk-on again,” commented crypto educator Karan Singh Arora on Thursday. 

The total altcoin market cap excluding Bitcoin and stablecoins is currently $1.63 trillion, which is close to 2025 highs, according to TradingView. Its previous peak was $1.64 trillion in November 2024, and before that, $1.7 trillion in November 2021.

Altcoin market cap closes in on all-time highs. Source: TradingView

Altcoins are about to go parabolic for the phase 3 of altseason,” said crypto trader Ash Crypto. 

Today’s top altcoin performers 

The best performing altcoins over the past 24 hours include Dogecoin (DOGE $0.2497), which has added more than 5% to top $0.25 and Avalanche (AVAX $28.76), which has surged almost 11% to reach $29, its highest level since January. 

Hyperliquid (HYPE), Stellar (XLM $0.3887), Litecoin (LTC $116.97), and Toncoin (TON $3.19) have all performed well over the past day, gaining more than 3% a piece.