In brief
- Altcoins including Solana, Hyperliquid and XRP posted gains Monday morning.
- Ethereum also rose, as institutional flows hit their strongest levels since November.
- Bitcoin dominance remains at 61.4%, with analysts watching for a break below 60% to signal full altcoin season.
The crypto market’s appetite for risk assets returned with force on Monday, with altcoins including Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH) surging as traders rotated out of Bitcoin (BTC) following its successful test of the $106,000 level.
SOL is up 6.1% in the last 24 hours, trading at $155.78, while ETH stands at $2,611, gaining 3.7% in the past 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows.
Ethereum “came back into favour after 2.5 years of underperformance” following recent network upgrades, with the narrative shifting toward institutional adoption on Ethereum-based platforms, Sygnum analysts told Decrypt.
Meanwhile, XRP posted a gains of 4.6%, sending it to $2.26, and Cardano (ADA) rose 2.8% to $0.64 in the last 24 hours.
The broader altcoin rally swept across multiple tokens, with HyperLiquid (HYPE) leading the charge among mid-caps with a 9.7% surge to around $44.
The token has overtaken Dogecoin (DOGE) to become the fifth-largest crypto by futures open interest, with traders placing $2.06 billion in active bets on HYPE contracts, per CoinGlass data.
Altcoin season incoming?
Market analysts are carefully watching whether this represents the beginning of a broader altcoin season or merely a temporary rotation.
Vadim Taszycki, Head of Growth at StealthEX, told Decrypt institutional interest was a primary driver, noting that “nearly $1.9 billion has flowed into crypto funds” over recent days, according to Farside Investors data.
He also pointed to regulatory momentum, mentioning “the wave of updated SEC filings from major asset managers aiming to launch spot Solana ETFs with staking capabilities” as evidence of shifting sentiment.
“While that attention helps push crypto into the mainstream, it also brings some hesitation, which may be delaying a full altcoin season for now,” the expert said.
The latest gains come despite last Friday’s sharp selloff triggered by Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets, which sent Bitcoin tumbling 4% below $104,000.
Bitcoin has since recovered to $106,724, up by 1.6% in the last 24 hours, as markets viewed the geopolitical shock as a buying opportunity.
“As Bitcoin’s positive demand trends continue, driven by the steady progress in institutional adoption and its increased use as a safe haven asset, Bitcoin’s fast-shrinking liquid supply is creating the conditions for demand shocks and upside volatility,” Sygnum analysts pointed out.
Marcin Kazmierczak, Co-founder & COO at RedStone, told Decrypt the recent altcoin rally is “being driven by Bitcoin’s push past $100,000, with BTC dominance at 61.4%,” pointing to strong ETF inflows and technical breakouts as key drivers.
He added that “stablecoin supply held by whales (over $5M) has risen 5% in the past 30 days,” indicating increased buying pressure.
The expert expects a major altcoin surge between September and December, based on historical patterns.
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