Altcoin Season Remains Elusive, but How to Track Its Progress

The altcoin season has been elusive so far, but there are ways to track its progress. Analysts define an 'altcoin season' as a period when capital flows from Bitcoin to smaller-cap tokens, resulting in significant and widespread gains for altcoins, not just isolated pumps.

To define what constitutes an altcoin, experts exclude stabilcoins (USDT, USDC), wrapped or pegged assets (WBTC), and liquid staking derivatives (stETH and similar) because their prices are tied to Bitcoin's performance.

The 'altcoin season index' calculation is straightforward: count how many tokens in a given universe (usually the top 50 or top 100 by market capitalization) outperformed Bitcoin over a specified time window, then express this as a percentage. The precise methodology involves selecting an appropriate universe and time frame.