Altcoin season isn’t dead—it may just have slipped under the radar. While the CoinMarketCap Altcoin Season Index pulled back, the OTHER/BTC ratio (total crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin versus Bitcoin) just staged a breakout above a key resistance, signaling capital rotation back into alts. If that level holds, the next leg of momentum could favor altcoins over BTC far more than headlines suggest.
What’s happening beneath the index
Macro trader Henrik Zeberg highlights the OTHER/BTC chart pushing above the 0.14 resistance—an inflection that historically precedes broad-based alt outperformance. This metric captures the aggregate strength of alts relative to Bitcoin, filtering out the noise of any single coin. A sustained hold above 0.14 would confirm changing market structure, with upside potential toward higher ratio bands if breadth and volume expand. Translation: money may be rotating, even if a single index looks weak.
Why this matters to traders
When OTHER/BTC trends up, alt/BTC pairs often trend up across the board. That typically: - Expands opportunity sets beyond BTC and ETH - Rewards relative-strength rotation - Increases dispersion—winners can vastly outperform laggards But it also raises risk: moves are faster, liquidity pockets are thinner, and reversals can be violent if BTC dominance spikes.
Actionable setup to consider
Your one clear takeaway: Trade the structure, not the noise—anchor decisions to OTHER/BTC and BTC dominance.
- Trigger: Favor long-alts bias while OTHER/BTC holds above ~0.14 and prints higher highs/higher lows. Strength improves if BTC dominance trends lower.
- Execution: Rotate gradually from BTC into high-liquidity alts showing green vs BTC on the daily timeframe; ladder entries rather than all-in; prioritize catalysts and strong on-chain/user metrics.
- Invalidation: OTHER/BTC loses 0.14 and rejects on retests—reduce alt exposure and rotate back to BTC or stablecoins.
- Risk control: Cap position risk at 1–2% per trade; set stop-losses below recent structure; scale out into resistance and rising funding; avoid illiquid microcaps.
- Monitoring: Track breadth (% of top 50 beating BTC), volume expansion, and alt/BTC pair strength alongside BTC volatility.
Key risks to respect
- A sharp BTC rally or news-driven dominance spike can compress alt performance and trigger fakeouts. - Macro prints and policy headlines can flip risk appetite intraday. - Token unlocks and low-float assets amplify downside; check supply schedules before entries.
Where the opportunities may cluster
Focus on sectors with real catalysts and liquidity: L2 scaling, DeFi revenue leaders, infrastructure (data, security), and AI-linked compute plays. Favor assets with: - Upcoming mainnets or releases - Clear fee/revenue accrual - Active devs and growing user metrics Be selective—relative strength vs BTC and clean technicals matter more than narratives.
Bottom line
An index dip doesn’t negate a structural breakout. If OTHER/BTC sustains above 0.14, altcoin season’s core trend remains intact—just masked by headline noise. Trade the rotation with a plan: define triggers, respect invalidation, and let the market confirm. Patience and discipline will beat FOMO.
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