Reviewed by Reviewed by Jibin Mathew George Updated 02:00 EDT September 30, 2026 Share Share Share Back to Top Bitcoin’s +40% rally in Q3 lifted the broader crypto market, triggering renewed appetite for altcoins
Now, according to Glassnode, altcoins’ spot volume has surged to 4x the size of Bitcoin, a yearly high
However, such setups can be risky for late altcoin investors chasing the uptrend
Spot traders are turning to altcoins. Demand for higher risk like this has often lined up with local tops in $BTC
Interestingly, a similar setup for a BTC local top was printed in early and mid-2025 based on this altcoin signal
In fact, the Futures market also echoed the prevailing strong interest in altcoins, with the segment accounting for 41% market share compared to ETH and BTC, which had 25% and 35%, respectively
Notably, the 41% altcoin dominance in Open Interest (OI) was last seen in December 2024. What followed was a BTC pullback
This raises an interesting question. Will the recent altcoin momentum lose its steam?
First of all, the market flipped to altcoin season in mid-September, according to the Altcoin Season Index’s (ASI) reading. Over the same period, the altcoin’s market cap tagged $1.2T, up from Q3’s lows of $1T. This translated to a 20% hike
Several altcoin gems have so far printed triple-digit gains in Q3, led by Pons crypto, Pumpfun [PUMP], Quant [QNT], and Zcash [ZEC]
Now, for these positive altcoin momentum readings to stay that way, stablecoin exchange inflows and the status of altcoin sell-offs could offer better insights
Unfortunately, according to CryptoQuant data, the altcoin sell-offs also spiked to levels last seen in October 2025. This was illustrated by Altcoins Exchange Inflow, which tracks tokens being sent to platforms for dumping
In fact, CryptoQuant analyst DarkFrost cited the same to counter Glassnode’s analysis
Actually, what I saw is that altcoin inflows are surging, which means that selling pressure is increasing on altcoins
However, from a different point of view, the two datasets pointed to the same insight: Bitcoin local tops coincided with rising altcoin selling pressure
Another way of evaluating the segment may be via stablecoin reserves. Altcoin sell-offs force holders to dump their stash for stablecoins. So, a rising stablecoin reserve could hint at a spike in altcoin profit-taking
Interestingly, stablecoin reserves (USDT + USDC) slipped lower despite the recent BTC drop. It implied BTC accumulation was still going on during the price decline
Hence, it’s unclear if this flips the altcoin momentum into a Bitcoin season
However, if BTC extends its recovery, altcoins will likely follow suit again. Put differently, the altcoins’ pullback may be a buying opportunity if BTC lifts them again
Benjamin Njiri is a Crypto Analyst and Reporter at AMBCrypto, specializing in technical analysis and emerging market trends. With a background in Telecoms engineering and power systems, he applies data analysis to filter market noise and decode on-chain data. His work delivers clear, data-driven insights that help readers navigate crypto markets with confidence
