Altcoin Season: What It Is and How the Index Works
Altcoin season is a stretch when most large altcoins outperform Bitcoin. CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season Index calls it altcoin season when 75% of the top 100 coins, leaving out stablecoins and wrapped tokens, have beaten Bitcoin over the last 90 days, and Bitcoin season when 25% or fewer have.
What Altcoin Season Means
An altcoin is any coin that isn't Bitcoin, Ethereum included. Altcoin season is a stretch of weeks or months when most of the big altcoins rise faster than Bitcoin, or fall slower. The opposite stretch, when Bitcoin beats most of them, is called Bitcoin season.
"Faster than Bitcoin" is the part people skip. Altcoin season isn't simply a time when altcoins go up. If Bitcoin rises 30% and most altcoins rise 20%, every chart is green and it is still Bitcoin season. The index measures each coin against Bitcoin, so dollar gains alone don't count.
That definition makes altcoin season something you can count instead of a feeling, which is why two public indexes exist to track it.
An illustration of the scale, not a live reading. Check the live index for today's number.
How the Altcoin Season Index Works
CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season Index takes the top 100 coins on its rankings, leaving out stablecoins and wrapped tokens, and compares each one's price change over the last 90 days with Bitcoin's (CoinMarketCap). If 75% of them have beaten Bitcoin, it is altcoin season. If 25% or fewer have, it is Bitcoin season. The result is scaled from 1 to 100 and updated daily, and Ethereum counts as part of the altcoin mix.
Blockchaincenter's index uses the same 75% rule over 90 days but on the top 50 coins, again excluding stablecoins and asset-backed tokens (Blockchaincenter). Because the coin lists differ, the two indexes can show slightly different readings on the same day.
A Worked Example
Take a simplified list of 100 coins and count how many beat Bitcoin over the last 90 days.
| Coins That Beat Bitcoin | Share | What the Index Calls It |
|---|---|---|
| 78 of 100 | 78% | Altcoin season, 75% or more |
| 52 of 100 | 52% | Neither, in between |
| 20 of 100 | 20% | Bitcoin season, 25% or less |
The real index scales its result from 1 to 100, but the idea is the same: it is a head count of winners against Bitcoin.
Other Things Traders Watch
Bitcoin Dominance
Bitcoin dominance is Bitcoin's share of the total value of all crypto. When it falls, money is moving into other coins faster than into Bitcoin. When it rises, the reverse.
The ETH to BTC Ratio
Ethereum is the biggest altcoin, so its price measured in Bitcoin is a quick read on whether the largest alternative is gaining or losing ground.
Breadth
One coin up 300% while the rest of the top 100 trails Bitcoin isn't altcoin season. The index counts how many coins are winning, which is why it is a better gauge than any single chart. For the chart of a single coin, the tools in our TradingView indicators guide do that job.
Why the Index Is Always Late
A 90-day window means the index confirms what already happened. By the time it crosses 75, many of the coins in it have already had their move, and a reading can stay high while prices start to fall. Read it as a summary of the last three months. It can't tell you what the next three will bring.
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Trading Altcoins Without Getting Burned
Altcoins move more than Bitcoin in both directions, and smaller ones can have thin order books, so a big order moves the price. That cuts both ways in an altcoin season: the moves that make headlines are the same moves that wipe out oversized positions on the way back down.
Coordinated buys of tiny coins are a known trap. The CFTC warns about pump-and-dump schemes where organizers buy first and sell into everyone who follows a social media tip. Our signals scam check lists the other warning signs.
The fix is the same as on any trade: mark the support and resistance levels, then size by the stop. Altcoins usually need wider stops, so the position has to be smaller for the same risk. Risking $100 with a 10% stop is a $1,000 position before fees. With a 4% stop on Bitcoin, the same $100 buys about $2,440. Run your own numbers in the position size calculator, and check the leverage and liquidation calculator before any futures trade.
- Same risk
- $100 per trade
- Bitcoin, 4% stop
- About $2,440Fees included
- Altcoin, 10% stop
- About $1,000Before fees
- Rule
- Wider stop, smaller size
- Use the index as background for your plan. On its own it is never a buy signal.
- Prefer coins with real volume over the ones trending in a group chat.
- Take profit in stages, because altcoin rallies can reverse fast.
- Never chase a coin that has already gone vertical without a stop.
Questions People Ask
Short answers to what people search for most, in plain words.
When is altcoin season?
By the CoinMarketCap and Blockchaincenter definition, it is altcoin season when 75% of the top coins have beaten Bitcoin over the last 90 days. There is no fixed date or calendar for it. Check the live index to see where it stands today.
Is altcoin season over?
The index answers that each day. If fewer than 75% of the top coins are beating Bitcoin over 90 days, it is no longer altcoin season by that definition. Because the window is 90 days, the index changes slowly and confirms moves after they happen.
Will there be an altcoin season in 2026?
Nobody can know that in advance. The index only measures the last 90 days, so it will show an altcoin season after one has started, not before.
Is Ethereum an altcoin?
Yes. Any coin other than Bitcoin is an altcoin, and CoinMarketCap counts Ethereum as part of the altcoin mix in its Altcoin Season Index.
What is the difference between the CoinMarketCap and Blockchaincenter index?
Both call it altcoin season when 75% of coins beat Bitcoin over 90 days. CoinMarketCap uses the top 100 coins on its rankings and Blockchaincenter uses the top 50, both excluding stablecoins and wrapped or asset-backed tokens.
Keep Reading
How to Trade Crypto
Seven steps from your first order to your trade log.
Is This Crypto Signals Group a Scam?
Pump-and-dump calls and nine other red flags.
Support and Resistance
Find the levels on any coin before you trade it.
TradingView Indicators for Crypto Trading
Which indicators answer which question.
Sources
- CoinMarketCap: Altcoin Season Index methodology
- Blockchaincenter: Altcoin Season Index
- CFTC: virtual currency pump-and-dump schemes
- Sizing math: the position size calculator.
Every source was opened and checked on Nov 3, 2026.
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