For years, crypto traders have waited for the elusive altcoin season – a period when coins other than Bitcoin deliver the market’s strongest returns. Recent data suggest the next cycle may already be underway; but with shifting market structures, regulatory uncertainty, and volatile liquidity dynamics, traders will need to tread carefully. What Counts as Altcoin Season? According to CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index , the threshold is simple: if 75% of the top 100 non-stablecoin tokens outperform Bitcoin over the past 90 days, it’s officially altcoin season. If fewer than 25% outperform, the market is in Bitcoin season. In general, Bitcoin season is the default – with a massive $2.2T market cap, the rest of the crypto market is always playing catch-up. The Altcoin Season Index offers a quantitative way to cut through hype. It smooths returns across a rolling 90-day window, avoiding the noise of day-to-day volatility. In practice, though, it tends to lag behind sentiment shifts; altcoin rallies often begin before the index confirms them. Recent Market Momentum The past two months have seen notable movement. In August, the Altcoin Season Index jumped from 39 to 58. Bitcoin dominance began to ease from its summer highs, historically a precursor to altcoin outperformance. Large-cap altcoins led the charge. Ethereum ($ETH) has closed the gap with Bitcoin, holding strong above $4K; it currently trades at $4.5K with a $500B market cap. while tokens like Chainlink ($LINK), Uniswap ($UNI), and several exchange tokens ($OKB, $CRO) have also gained ground. Meme coins also haven’t been left behind; the total meme coin market cap is up 8% over the month. Altcoin seasons rarely happen in isolation. Institutional flows, political shifts, and macroeconomic conditions all play a role. But, as always with crypto, sentiment plays a huge role. While the Altcoin Season Index relies on technical analysis, the sentiment-based Crypto Fear & Greed Index sits exactly in the middle, perfectly balanced behind optimism and fear. It’s a strangely uncertain-but-confident market, worried about inflation and macroeconomic pressures but still eagerly looking for the next big thing. That’s where these three projects come in. Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER), Solana ($SOL), and the Snorter Token ($SNORT). Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) – Hybrid Layer 2 Expands Bitcoin’s Reach to DeFi and Beyond Take Bitcoin’s strength and stability and add in a dash of Solana’s programmability and speed. The result is Bitcoin Hyper , a Layer 2 solution that uses a Bitcoin Canonical Bridge to move Bitcoin to the new Layer 2, creating wrapped Bitcoin that can be used for DeFi, staking, and more. The project opens the door for Bitcoin to grow beyond a mere store-of-value asset. With use cases for Bitcoin already expanding, Hyper could send the world’s leading crypto even higher. The presale flew past $15M earlier in the week as investors realized just how much potential $HYPER has. Check out our price prediction, which shows that the token could go from its current $0.012905 to $0.32, a 2000%+ increase. Visit the Bitcoin Hyper presale page to learn more. Solana ($SOL) – Altcoin Darling Sees Treasury Movement Gain Speed Solana continues to outperform in 2025, fueled by the growing Solana treasury movement. The latest boost came from Forward Industries’ massive $1.65B private placement to further its $SOL acquisitions. $SOL is up over 20% in the past month and currently trades over $240. Solana treasuries have a key advantage over their Bitcoin counterparts: yield generation. Solana’s programmability and DeFi integration mean Solana treasuries can provide long-term yield for investors. Snorter Token ($SNORT) – Navigate Solana’s Meme Coin Madness with Snorter Bot The Snorter Bot gives traders a critical advantage when it comes to the wild-and-woolly world of Solana meme coins. No more guessing at which tokens could make big moves – and no more wondering how to find the next big thing. Snorter Bot gives traders automated sniping tools, protection from rug pulls and honeypots, and even limit orders and copy trading. Deploy Snorter to sniff out the low-cap meme coin gems before they make it to major exchanges. With the $SNORT token, traders get even lower rates on Snorter Bot trades and cheaper swaps. The $SNORT token is currently in presale at $0.1041, but our price prediction shows the potential for that to increase to $1.92 by the end of next year. What is Snorter Bot? It’s a meme coin trader’s best friend. Check out the presale page for the latest. The index suggests that the market is somewhere in the middle of the Bitcoin-altcoin cycle. Will it evolve into a full-blown altcoin season – and how high will $HYPER , $SOL, and $SNORT go if it does? Authored by Bogdan Patru, Bitcoinist — https://bitcoinist.com/is-altcoin-season-heating-up-ethereum-break-4-5k
