Altcoins Take Off as Bitcoin Loses Ground: Is a New Bull Run Beginning?

A Bullish wave is once again sweeping through all corners of the crypto market as Bitcoin reached new price levels and altcoins printed price climbs. Over the past week, the OG coin witnessed consecutive days of price increases, reaching an all-time high of $ 118,731 on July 11. Despite this remarkable feat, data shows that the apex coin’s dominance has faded slightly. Prominent market personality Matthew Hyland even asserted that altcoins may have a greater upside, as many currently surge independent of Bitcoin’s influence.

Altcoins Surge as Bitcoin Dominance Slips

The Bitcoin Dominance Index (BTC.D) has dropped from 66% to 64.5% , with 27 altcoins outpacing the first-born token in the past 90 days. Data from TradingView also shows that the altcoin market cap (TOTAL2) has bounced back by over 10% since the start of the month. 

Commenting on this recent trend, Hyland noted that “Alts are ripping,” even with the relatively stable Bitcoin dominance. The market analysts speculated that if the OG asset’s dominance were to decline from its current level to around 45%, the altcoin market could see even greater inflows.

Over time, the Bitcoin Dominance has been used as a benchmark to measure the altcoin season. A decline in dominance is generally interpreted as the beginning of an “altseason,” where the altcoin market percentage gains. However, the current divergence of altcoins from the BTC dominance could signal a fresh liquidity injection into the crypto market.

Ethereum Rally Fuels Altcoin Season Momentum

Ethereum, which is second only to BTC in market valuation, has rallied over 17% week-to-date. During this period, the ETH/BTC ratio, which is used to analyze Ether’s performance against Bitcoin, has climbed by 8.39%.

Analysts like Michael van de Poppe believe that the market is set to enter the “final easy and biggest bull ever on Altcoins.”

Trading Altcoins is difficult, that’s why the downwards corrections are extremely challenging and the upwards returns enormous.

Michael van de Poppe

Santiment also aligned with this view, stating that the altcoin season has started based on their analysis. The crypto research platform added that as long as the OG coin stays above the $110,000 psychological support level, traders will likely shift gains into altcoins, further driving the sector.

Stablecoin Surge and Bitcoin Outflows Hint at Altseason

Another key trend underpinning this phenomenon is the high amount of exchange-held stablecoins. Often called “dry powder,” these assets are kept in reserve for the right market opening:

According to CryptoQuant analyst oinonen_t, there’s a clear pattern happening on Binance. Stablecoin reserves, such as USDT and USDC, remain high , with more than $31 billion in total value. On the flip side, BTC reserves on exchanges are declining.

Here’s what’s behind it:

• Many investors are moving their Bitcoin off exchanges into private wallets to keep it safe for the long term.
• At the same time, stablecoin reserves keep growing because traders hold these funds on exchanges as “dry powder” — capital waiting to be used.
• This shows that while investors are locking away their Bitcoin, they’re also keeping large amounts of stablecoins ready to deploy when the right market opportunity appears.

Crypto commentator under the pseudonym Master of Crypto maintained that altcoins can still chart upward courses with the BTC price falling. He explained that if the first-born asset’s price moves sideways as its influence wanes, it could set the perfect stage for an altseason, particularly for low- and mid-cap coins.

He also clarified that the strength of the altcoin season is contingent on the depth of the BTC.D decline from the EMA50 and EMA200 levels.