Hopes rise for altseason, but the signals aren’t there yet

Crypto analysts speculate the long-awaited altcoin season may not be far away now, but altcoin season indicators are painting a different picture for now.

A “massive liquidity shift” later this year will lead to a “parabolic pump” for altcoins, predicted crypto analyst “Ash Crypto.”

The majority of altcoins have been lackluster this year, despite Bitcoin surging 680% from its November 2022 bear market low and other major assets, such as tech stocks and gold, hitting all-time highs. 

Investors are currently only concentrating on safe-haven assets this year due to trade tariff concerns and geopolitical tensions, he said. 

“So currently, the liquidity is only in low-risk assets, and if you look at 2017 and 2021, this is how a bull market always plays out.”

However, with several Federal Reserve rate cuts expected and an easing of monetary policy, “we will see liquidity flowing back to risk assets,” which will send BTC and Ether to new peaks, and altcoins will follow, the analyst predicted. 

Another analyst, digital asset investor “Crypto GEMs,” shared a chart highlighting the last time the US central bank injected liquidity, which kicked off altseason.

Altcoin market cap on the cusp of a big move. Source: Crypto GEMs

There are also more than 150 altcoin exchange-traded funds waiting for SEC approval, which could be another catalyst. 

Altseason indexes at bear market lows

However, altcoin season index indicators are telling a completely different story, with most of them at bear market lows. 

The Blockchain Center’s Altseason Index is currently at 35 out of 100, the lowest it has been since July. 

CoinMarketCap’s altseason gauge is even lower at 24, reporting that it is “Bitcoin season” still, while CryptoRank also shows a low of 24, and Bitget’s altcoin season index is at 30. 

Not altseason yet, say altcoin indexes. Source: CoinMarketCap

Top-performing altcoins few and far between

Aside from a few outliers such as BNB and Hyperliquid (HYPE), which have made recent all-time highs, most altcoins are trading at multi-year lows. 

A few have started to move today, though, with BNB, Solana , HYPE, Zcash and World Liberty Finance (WLFI) all outperforming the broader market, according to CoinGecko.