Traditional altcoin cycles, which featured broad market rallies called “altseason,” are now a relic of the past as new crypto market dynamics set in, according to Andrei Grachev, Managing Partner of DWF Labs, a crypto market maker and investment firm.
Too many tokens competing for limited capital and mindshare, a smaller number of market participants, and crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) altering market dynamics by trapping liquidity are driving factors of the disruption, Grachev told Cointelegraph.
An institutional focus on large-cap digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) is also diverting capital and attention away from altcoins, he said.
“The long tail of tokens will still exist, but will largely function as high-risk venture or casino-style plays. The capital is not going to keep expanding fast enough to support all of it,” Grachev said. He added:
“That means shorter narrative windows, more violent rotations, and less room for weak projects to survive on hype alone. The market is moving away from broad altcoin rallies and toward more selective moves in specific sectors.”
Matt Hougan, the chief investment officer at investment firm Bitwise, also said traditional altcoin cycles are over, and that institutional investors are focused on yield-bearing digital instruments or crypto assets that capture revenue.
The altcoin market cap has taken a beating since the October 2025 market crash
38% of altcoins are near all-time lows, according to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, who said this is worse than the post-FTX market crash.
“Liquidity is becoming increasingly diluted by the growing number of projects and tokens entering the market,” he told Cointelegraph.
Over $209 billion has exited the altcoin market over the last 13 months. The altcoin market cap briefly tapped a high of $1.19 trillion in October 2025, before the market crash dragged it back down to about $719 billion.
Meanwhile, inflows into Bitcoin ETFs remain strong, with five days of positive inflows, according to data from fund manager Farside Investors, while altcoin ETFs continue to experience outflows.
