In the past, a strong move in bitcoin often caused growth across the entire crypto market. Now the picture has changed: capital stays in BTC much longer, and there is still no mass inflow of funds into altcoins.
“Business closed from +40% profit”
“+1,300$/month in profit”
“Stable 500$–600$ Withdrawals”
The trend of capital flow from Bitcoin to Altcoins has practically disappeared
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju believes that the old market model is gradually ceasing to work. According to him, the flow of capital from bitcoin to altcoins has almost stopped.
Ki Young Ju refers to CryptoQuant statistics. According to the data, altcoin trading volumes in BTC pairs have fallen to levels not seen since 2021. This is noticeably different from previous cycles, when BTC was often used as the main asset to move to riskier coins.
Aggregate altcoin trading volume in BTC pairs. Source: CryptoQuant.
The calculations exclude the largest market representatives, incl Ether (ETH), XRP, GNB and Solana (SOL). The main focus is on second-tier altcoins and smaller projects that are traded in bitcoin pairs on centralized exchanges.
This segment used to be among the first to subsequently respond to capital inflows BTC growth. During the 2017 and 2021 cycles, interest in such assets rose, but now the statistics do not show comparable activity. Volumes remain markedly below levels typical of previous market phases.
“Perhaps the era when altcoins grew simply because bitcoin rose is already over,” Ki Young Ju said.
Capital in Altcoins is concentrated in a few tokens
A group of leaders is increasingly standing out in the altcoin market. With the exception of bitcoin and stablecoins, its capitalization is estimated at approx $600 billionwith approx $483 billion responsible for only the ten largest projects. By comparison, during the previous bull cycle, capital was much more widely distributed. Now most liquidity is concentrated in a limited number of coins, while the rest of the market attracts significantly less attention from investors.
The biggest altcoins control most of the market’s capital. Source: TradingView.
At the same time, the number of large projects is also shrinking. According to CoinMarketCapin 2021, approx 106 altcoins had a capital letter above $1 billion. By mid-2026 there were approx 50 abandon such projects.
According to Ki Young Juis another sign that investors have become much more selective. Instead of buying the entire market en masse, capital is increasingly directed to a limited number of leaders.
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Separately, he noted that the market is gradually moving away from the era of so-called “narrative” altcoins, which grew mainly due to hype.
Now more attention is paid to projects with working products and a clear economic model. Among such areas he highlighted DeFi protocols with real income, stable coins, signed real assets (RWA) and AI agents.
In his opinion, the next cycle for altcoins will be different from previous ones. Instead of broad market growth, investors are likely to bet on projects that can attract users and solve specific problems.
The recovery in Bitcoin dominance may have slowed down Altseason
Another obstacle for altcoins remains the growth of bitcoin dominance.
The BTC.D indicator has recently rebounded from the 100-week exponential moving average and the lower boundary of the rising channel. Both zones are close now 58.75%.
For many market participants, this is a sign that money continues to concentrate in bitcoin.
Weekly chart of bitcoin dominance (BTC.D). Source: TradingView.
If the current trend continues, the indicator may rise to the upper border of the channel around 60%.
Such a step would mean a further strengthening of BTC positions relative to the rest of the market and could delay the start of a full-fledged alto season even further.
A similar assessment is given by analyst Right Capital. He noted the bullish divergence on the bitcoin dominance chart and believes this signal continues to favor BTC.
Weekly chart of bitcoin dominance (BTC.D). Source: TradingView/Rekt Capital.
A bullish divergence occurs when the indicator sets new lows, but the relative strength index (RSI) begins to form higher lows. This usually indicates a weakening of the downward momentum.
But Right Capital don’t expect a strong and prolonged rise in dominance. In his opinion, the indicator has already lost its long-term uptrend, so the current rise can only be a temporary recovery after the breakout.
If this scenario plays out, BTC.D could fall to the 200-week EMAwhich is now around 57%.
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