Traders are signaling the possible start of an altcoin rally, fueled by capital inflows into smaller-cap cryptocurrencies.
Last week, when the entire crypto market surged over 10%, altcoins outperformed Bitcoin BTC $95 143 24h volatility: 1.4% Market cap: $1.89 T Vol. 24h: $23.44 B and drew the attention of traders.
According to a recent report from market intelligence firm Santiment, while Bitcoin posted a respectable 7.6% weekly gain, the broader market’s outperformance indicates a surge of capital flowing into lower market cap coins.
🥳 Traders are proclaiming that altseason is here (or around the corner). With last week's Bitcoin surge rapidly seeing profit redistribution into more speculative assets, we take a look at the $TRUMP promotion and retail's renewed meme coin excitement. 👇https://t.co/75TTa9PmuF pic.twitter.com/GMBQgfVcuO
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) April 29, 2025
Santiment stated that traders could see an altcoin season in the near future, citing increasing social media buzz. Notably, terms like “altcoins” and “altseason” have recently spiked in mentions across platforms.
Popular crypto trader Merlijn shared that the early-2025 shakeout in the altcoin market appears to be over. He compared the current market to the early-stage patterns seen in 2016 and 2020, suggesting that traders could see a similar 10x rally.
Altcoin shakeout: complete.
Structure: identical to 2016 and 2020
Result back then? A 10x explosion.
It’s happening again. Buckle up. pic.twitter.com/LGqlDDOWTw
— Merlijn The Trader (@MerlijnTrader) April 28, 2025
Altcoin Price Action Heats Up
Over the past week, major altcoins such as Cardano ADA $0.71 24h volatility: 2.6% Market cap: $25.62 B Vol. 24h: $732.37 M , XRP XRP $2.30 24h volatility: 0.9% Market cap: $134.07 B Vol. 24h: $2.55 B , and Dogecoin DOGE $0.18 24h volatility: 1.8% Market cap: $26.67 B Vol. 24h: $979.58 M have posted healthy gains of around 10%.
Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has moved back into the “Greed” zone after weeks of macroeconomic uncertainties, which is another signal that investors are gearing up for renewed bullish action.
This comes amid growing political support under Trump’s administration and increasing altcoin-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings by asset management giants.
As per the data by TradingView, the crypto total market cap, excluding BTC, shows a steady uptrend, with the value recently reclaiming the $1.05T mark.
Crypto total market cap excluding BTC | Source: TradingView
The Fibonacci retracement from the previous high to the recent low suggests strong resistance around the 0.5 level at $851B, which has now been convincingly broken. RSI sits at 62, indicating growing bullish momentum without being overbought.
Meanwhile, the MACD shows a bullish crossover with widening divergence, suggesting further upside potential. If the current trend holds, the market could target the $1.2T zone next.
Here’s my Big Altcoin Bull Run Portfolio:
♦️Major Altcoins 👇👇
▪️ $SUI – #SUI 👉: 75 $
▪️ $APT – #APT 👉: 125 $
▪️ $LINK – #LINK 👉: 250 $
▪️ $HBAR – #HBAR 👉: 75 $
▪️ $DOT – #DOT 👉: 80 $
▪️ $NEAR – #NEAR 👉: 75 $
▪️ $ICP – #ICP 👉: 100 $
▪️ $ONDO – #ONDO…— @CryptoELlTES (@CryptooELITES) April 28, 2025
Analyst group Crypto Elites has shared bullish price targets for several top altcoins on X. It projected that Sui SUI $3.60 24h volatility: 0.6% Market cap: $11.70 B Vol. 24h: $1.68 B could surge to $75, Aptos [NC] might reach $125, and Chainlink LINK $14.88 24h volatility: 1.9% Market cap: $9.77 B Vol. 24h: $351.17 M could rise to $250.
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