Is altcoin season coming? Analysts weigh in
With Bitcoin dominance over the crypto market showing subtle signs of weakening, crypto analysts are now split on when the true altcoin season will arrive.
According to data from CoinGecko, the altcoin market cap has fallen nearly 42% from its all-time high of over $1.89 trillion, reached in early December last year. The rally at the time was driven by the hype surrounding Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election victory, which fueled hopes of a more favorable regulatory environment for crypto.
However, despite such measures now in place, the altcoin market hasn’t bounced back. Ethereum ( ETH ), the biggest altcoin, is still down 17.3% over the past month. Other major names like XRP ( XRP ), Solana ( SOL ), Dogecoin ( DOGE ), and Cardano ( ADA ) have also taken hits, falling anywhere from 14% to 30%.
As the bearish momentum shows no sign of leaving the altcoin markets, the crypto community is watching closely for signs of the next altcoin season and when to dive in.
For altcoins to start rallying, Bitcoin dominance needs to drop; at least, that’s what several market experts are telling their followers.
According to pseudonymous trader Daan Crypto Trades, altcoin dominance has struggled to gain momentum due to Bitcoin’s continued strength and the growing stablecoin market .
“For altcoins to gain back dominance against BTC, stables, and the other majors, you need to see ETH/BTC gain some momentum first,” said Daan.
He explained that without Ethereum leading the way, a broader altcoin breakout is unlikely since most coins are built on Ethereum and many liquidity pools are ETH-denominated. A strong ETH performance, he added, tends to create the kind of wealth effect needed for the rest of the altcoin market to rally.
Daan emphasized that while short-lived altcoin rallies do happen, a sustained trend usually starts with high-timeframe confirmation, often following a retest after the initial breakout. Until then, he suggests patience or strategic dollar-cost averaging into fundamentally strong projects.
In a statement to crypto.news, Georgii Verbitskii, founder of TYMIO, agreed that altcoins are currently in a “waiting game.”
According to him, “a true altseason, in the classic sense where Bitcoin consolidates and altcoins rally independently, can be expected only after Bitcoin breaks its previous all-time high.”
Until then, he believes investors will keep viewing altcoins as the riskier side of crypto, which is why big money is likely to remain on the sidelines for now.
Echoing similar sentiments, Real Vision’s chief crypto analyst Jamie Coutts believes the market will see “one last rally” this cycle, possibly by June, but only those with real utility and active networks are likely to benefit.
“Activity drives prices,” Coutts said , noting that only “quality altcoins” will see meaningful recoveries.
Meanwhile, technical analyst Rekt Capital argues that altseason is inevitable but will only begin once Bitcoin dominance starts to decline, likely from around the 71% mark, according to a chart he shared. When writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 62.1%.
"Will there ever be another #Altseason ?" Yes, the next time #BTC Dominance collapses Which is likely going to start from ~71% (red) $BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/G8am7joVqf
Market commentator Sensei suggests Bitcoin dominance may have already peaked, pointing to a rising wedge pattern on the BTC Dominance chart, a formation that analysts view as early signs of a potential reversal. See below.
Despite the optimism shared by some analysts, altcoin season isn’t here yet, at least not according to some of the crypto industry’s go-to indicators.
For instance, Capriole’s Altcoin Speculation Index, which tracks investor appetite for high-risk altcoins, has dropped to 12%, down over 50% since December. Meanwhile, CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index, which compares altcoin performance to Bitcoin over 90 days, sits at just 14 out of 100, signalling a market still firmly in “Bitcoin Season.”

Cryptonews Official
2025/04/01 07:05
zkLend hacker loses all 2,930 stolen ETH to TornadoCash phishing scam
The zkLend exploiter lost all 2,930 ETH in a phishing scam while trying to launder the stolen money using what they thought was Tornado Cash.
According to a Mar. 31 post on X by Consensys-backed De.Fi Antivirus Web3, the attacker mistakenly deposited the stolen funds into a fake Tornado Cash website, resulting in an immediate loss. On-chain data shows that after realizing the mistake, the hacker sent a desperate message to zkLend’s deployer address, admitting their blunder.
“I tried to move funds to Tornado, but I used a phishing website, and all the funds have been lost. I am devastated,” the hacker wrote. They went on to apologize for the attack and urged zkLend to focus its recovery efforts on the phishing scam operators.
🚨BREAKING: ZKLEND HACKER GOT REKT🚨 2,930 $ETH maliciously grabbed in the zkLend hack were mistakenly deposited to a copycat website of Tornado Cash In the end, the hacker addresses the case to the zkLend deployer as they no longer have stolen assets pic.twitter.com/J9io6vvKYl
More than $9.6 million in Ethereum ( ETH ) was stolen in the zkLend exploit , which took place on Feb. 12 . In an attempt to engage in negotiations, the Starknet-based lending protocol offered the hacker a 10% reward in exchange for returning the remaining funds by Feb. 14.
ZkLend was forced to escalate the matter to law enforcement because the hacker ignored the deadline. The platform announced that it had enlisted security experts from the Starknet Foundation, StarkWare, and Binance Security to locate and recover the funds. But now that the stolen ETH has been lost to a phishing scam, things seem to have taken a surprising turn.
The zkLend attack is part of a growing trend of high-profile cryptocurrency exploits. According to Immunefi’s Q1 2025 report , the first three months of 2025 saw the worst quarter for crypto security breaches in history, with hackers stealing $1.64 billion. The zkLend hack was the fifth-largest exploit of the quarter.
Decentralized finance protocols lost $106.8 million across 38 incidents, with Ethereum and BNB ( BNB ) Chain being the most targeted networks. While DeFi suffered multiple attacks , centralized finance platforms saw just two incidents, but those resulted in a staggering $1.5 billion in losses.