Altcoin traders are repeating behavior last seen before the October 2025 market top. Spot volume and exchange deposits have both climbed to levels unseen since the run-up to that peak.
Meanwhile, a separate gauge of altcoin strength shows the rally has yet to meet the formal definition of altcoin season.
Traders Crowd Into Altcoins at a 2025 Pace
Glassnode reported on September 28 that total crypto spot volume now runs nearly 4 times Bitcoin (BTC) spot volume. The ratio sits at its highest level since September 2025.
A higher reading means more trading is taking place outside Bitcoin. According to Glassnode, this kind of risk appetite has often coincided with local Bitcoin tops.
“Demand for higher risk like this has often lined up with local tops in BTC,” it said.
Analyst Darkfost said Total2, the altcoin market cap including Ethereum (ETH), has absorbed over $371 billion since June. That equals a 45% rise in a few months.
The data also shows the rally spreading across the market. In August, 80% of Binance-listed altcoins traded below their 200-day moving average. Only 13% remain below it now.
The share of altcoins above that trend line stood at 70% on September 20, BeInCrypto reported. The latest data puts it at 87%.
Exchange Deposits Echo the Last Market Top
Darkfost also found that altcoin exchange deposits have reached their highest level since October 2025, when the market last peaked.
Weekly deposit transactions now average over 22,700 on Binance and 8,300 on Coinbase. Roughly 32,000 more are spread across other exchanges.
The analyst paired the deposit data with an emerging bearish divergence on the Relative Strength Index (RSI) of Total2. Such a divergence can signal that upward momentum is fading.
“This shift points to a form of euphoria taking hold across altcoins. Historically, however, this kind of dynamic isn’t sustainable and eventually runs out of steam,” the analyst said.
Still, Darkfost noted that deposit volumes remain modest compared with the start of the previous bull cycle. Earlier this month, BeInCrypto also found altcoin leverage repeating the pattern seen before the October 2025 crash.
Money Chases a Few Stories Beneath the Breadth
The breadth readings mask an uneven split in where money has flowed this week, CoinGecko data shows. Quant (QNT), among Monday’s top gainers, has surged about 269% over 7 days.
The rally followed The Clearing House picking its Overledger technology for a tokenized deposit network. Hedera (HBAR) has jumped nearly 27% in 24 hours.
Meme coins have moved the other way. Dogecoin (DOGE) has fallen almost 9% over the week, while Pepe (PEPE) has lost about 21%. Privacy coins have also cooled, with Zcash (ZEC) down roughly 12% in 24 hours.
These uneven gains fit with an Altcoin Season Index still at 53.
The Altseason Gauge Stays Stuck in Neutral
Blockchaincenter’s Altcoin Season Index moved from Bitcoin Season to Neutral on September 2. The index tracks how many of the top 50 coins beat Bitcoin over 90 days. A reading of 75 or above confirms an altcoin season.
Crypto commentator Ash Crypto offered a more bullish read. He said the OTHERS/BTC monthly chart, which excludes the top 10 assets, broke a 4-year downtrend.
He added that the chart confirmed a bullish momentum cross and closely mirrors the setup before the 2021 altcoin season.
The index still needs 22 more points to confirm an altcoin season. Whether it gets there before the warning signs from Glassnode and Darkfost play out is the question heading into October.
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