Altcoin Season
A market period in which a broad range of alternative cryptocurrencies significantly outperform Bitcoin, often associated with falling Bitcoin market dominance.
Altcoin season describes a market period during which a broad range of alternative cryptocurrencies ("altcoins") significantly outperform Bitcoin in price terms, typically coinciding with Bitcoin's market dominance (see Kaavon's "Market Dominance" glossary definition) falling as capital rotates from Bitcoin into a wider range of other assets. The term is used descriptively after the fact and as a speculative forward-looking expectation, though no precise, universally agreed-upon definition specifies exactly how broad or sustained the outperformance must be to officially qualify.
Various informal indices attempt to quantify whether conditions meet an "altcoin season" threshold, commonly based on what percentage of a tracked basket of large-cap altcoins outperformed Bitcoin over a trailing period such as 90 days — but these indices are unofficial, methodology-dependent tools built by third parties rather than standardized measures, and should be treated as informal market commentary rather than precise, authoritative indicators.
Examples
- During a period commonly described as altcoin season, a broad basket of alternative cryptocurrencies might significantly outperform Bitcoin, coinciding with falling Bitcoin market dominance.
- Different altcoin season index methodologies can disagree about whether current conditions qualify, since there's no single official, universally agreed-upon definition of the term.