1. Introduction

With Bitcoin's price once again surpassing the $100,000 mark and Ethereum rebounding significantly, the overall cryptocurrency market is on the rise. On-chain activities and trading volumes across multiple public chains have surged, indicating a renewed enthusiasm for capital inflow and a continued recovery in risk appetite. Under the dual influence of macroeconomic benefits and intrinsic market dynamics, the cryptocurrency market is currently in a high-energy accumulation phase.

Against this backdrop, there is widespread speculation about whether the altcoin season has begun. This article conducts an in-depth analysis of the characteristics and driving factors of the current market from multiple dimensions, including the macroeconomic environment, market structure, on-chain indices, characteristics of this round of altcoin trends, and potential trajectories of promising sectors, providing readers with a reference to grasp the current landscape and future trends of the cryptocurrency market.

2. Macroeconomic Background and Market Structure Analysis

With the easing of tariff tensions between the U.S. and China, global liquidity loosening, Trump's repeated calls for interest rate cuts, and the continuous improvement of the cryptocurrency regulatory environment, the structure of the cryptocurrency market has undergone profound adjustments: Bitcoin's dominance has declined, the altcoin season index has strengthened, and the supply of stablecoins has surged, laying a solid foundation for the subsequent evolution of the altcoin market.

1. Macroeconomic Environment and Policy Background

Recently, there have been many favorable signals for risk assets in the global macroeconomic environment. U.S. inflation has significantly retreated, with the April CPI year-on-year at only 2.3%, the lowest in four years, allowing the Federal Reserve to remain on hold in May, keeping the federal funds rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range. Meanwhile, the U.S.-China trade war has seen significant easing: both sides have reached a 90-day tariff suspension agreement, with the U.S. reducing tariffs on Chinese products from the original 125%-145% to 10%-30%, and China also cutting tariffs from 125% to 10%. This "ceasefire" has alleviated concerns about economic recession, leading Wall Street institutions to lower their recession probability forecasts. U.S. President Trump has repeatedly pressured the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates quickly. Although Federal Reserve officials remain cautious about early rate cuts, the market expects two moderate rate cuts in the second half of the year.

This series of macroeconomic positive news has boosted global risk appetite, with capital flowing back into stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other risk assets. The improvement in the macro environment has laid the groundwork for a structural bull market in the cryptocurrency market by 2025: expectations of easing have strengthened, liquidity has returned, and investors are "holding cash" to prepare for buying various crypto assets at lower prices. As of May 15, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has risen to $3.5 trillion.

2. Changes in Cryptocurrency Market Structure

The structure of the cryptocurrency market has shown significant changes in this round of market activity. First, Bitcoin's dominance has peaked and started to decline. Earlier this year, due to the influx of institutional funds, Bitcoin's market capitalization share (BTC Dominance) rose steadily, nearing 64-65% in early May, reflecting that the market was still in a "Bitcoin season." As Bitcoin returned to the $100,000 mark on May 9 and continued to rise, funds began to rotate from Bitcoin to a broader range of altcoins. According to TradingView data, Bitcoin's dominance plummeted by about 4.6 percentage points in just one week, marking the largest single-week drop of the year. The decline in Bitcoin's market share is one of the typical signals for the onset of "altcoin season" in history.

Source: https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTC.D/?timeframe=YTD

At the same time, the overall market capitalization of altcoins has rebounded significantly. The total market capitalization of altcoins (excluding BTC) fell to about $0.93 trillion in April but has since rebounded strongly in May, currently surpassing $1.45 trillion, successfully breaking through the descending wedge pattern that has persisted since the end of 2024, entering a new upward wave. This breakthrough corresponds to a significant decline in the Bitcoin dominance curve, as funds "depart" from the single asset of Bitcoin and are reallocated to other cryptocurrencies.

Source: https://www.coingecko.com/en/global-charts

3. Analysis of the Altcoin Season Index

A more intuitive sentiment indicator is the "Altcoin Season Index." According to Coinglass data, this index fell to a low of 14 on April 26. The Altcoin Season Index has quickly risen to 31. Although it has not yet reached the threshold of 75 for a "formal altcoin season," it has moved away from Bitcoin's solo performance into a neutral to strong area. This confirms that market sentiment is shifting from cautious to adventurous: investors are starting to increase their positions in altcoins. This shift in sentiment is also reflected in on-chain data, with the number of active addresses and trading volumes showing significant growth in several public chains in early May, indicating an increase in investor participation. The total trading volume on DEXs also rose by 30% in a week, reaching $8.4 billion. The long-dormant on-chain activity has become active again, indicating a recovery in market sentiment.

Source: https://www.coinglass.com/pro/i/alt-coin-season

In addition, the total market capitalization of stablecoins reached a historical high of about $245 billion in early May. Among them, the leading stablecoin USDT saw a surge in supply, with its market capitalization surpassing $150 billion. In contrast, USDT was about $83 billion at the peak of the bull market in 2021. As a bridge between fiat currency and cryptocurrency, the surge in stablecoin supply indicates that a massive amount of capital is entering the market through stablecoin channels and waiting for the right entry opportunity, providing "fuel" for further increases in altcoins. Funds are expected to continue converting from stablecoins to BTC and various altcoin assets, driving a new round of market activity.

3. Characteristics of the Current Altcoin Market

Historical experience shows that altcoin seasons typically occur after significant increases or peaks in Bitcoin, as funds begin to seek higher yields by flowing into mid- and small-cap coins. Bitcoin's breakthrough above $100,000 is the catalyst for the current altcoin season, and the rhythm of capital rotation is consistent with past cycles. However, compared to previous altcoin seasons, this round of market activity has notable differences in duration, increase structure, and participant profiles.

• Duration and Initiation Rhythm: Previous altcoin frenzies often lasted for months during Bitcoin's range-bound or corrective phases. In contrast, this round has only just begun to show its potential as of mid-May, with many altcoins still experiencing moderate increases. As one analyst humorously noted, "Most altcoins have dropped 90% from their December highs, and when they rebound 10% this week, some people shout 'the long-awaited altcoin season has arrived.'" The comprehensive explosion of the altcoin market has not yet reached the level of excitement seen in past cycles. The altcoin season index has just risen from the bottom but is far from the typical frenzy line of 75; social media attention and retail FOMO sentiment are still brewing. Therefore, this round of altcoin activity may have a slower pace and longer duration, rather than the rapid rises and falls seen in the past.

• Increase Structure and Rotation Order: This round of altcoin activity exhibits a "large-cap leading, gradually expanding" characteristic. In early May, large-cap coins such as ETH, Solana, and BNB were the first to initiate, with daily increases ranging from 5% to 15%. Subsequently, mid-cap mainstream coins (such as MKR, CRV, AAVE, etc.) also saw catch-up rallies. In contrast, small-cap coins and long-tail assets did not immediately soar in tandem. This may reflect that current funds are more inclined towards projects with fundamental support, and the speculative frenzy has not yet fully unfolded. Of course, as the market evolves, it is not ruled out that mid- and small-cap coins may catch up or even experience explosive growth.

• Driving Narratives and Nature of Funds: The altcoin boom in 2017 was driven by the ICO concept, with many new tokens skyrocketing based solely on white papers; in 2021, narratives such as DeFi, Dogecoin mania, and NFTs/metaverse took turns to dominate, fueled by massive retail sentiment. The narrative of this round of market activity is more diverse and "professional." The leading themes in the market, such as AI and RWA, attract not only speculative capital but also a significant proportion of institutional and industrial capital.

• Investor Structure and Profile: The participant structure in the current cryptocurrency market is characterized by a significant decrease in retail participation compared to the previous round, while the proportion of institutional capital has increased. Institutional investors have played the role of "incremental capital" in this round. This means that the current market is often a competition between institutions. The market participants are more experienced "veterans" who have gone through multiple cycles, and in this round of market activity, funds switch rapidly between sectors, with shorter durations of hot spots, lacking the kind of one-sided surges seen during retail frenzies. This validates that the absence of retail participation leads to short-term speculation but lacks long-term trends. Additionally, the increase in the proportion of the derivatives market indicates that more professional funds are using futures, options, and other strategies for leveraged trading, which is distinctly different from the previous retail-only spot buying. All of these factors make the volatility rhythm and structure of this round of market activity more complex.

• Regulatory Environment and Market Ecology: Previous altcoin frenzies often occurred during periods of relatively absent regulation and "wild growth," whereas global regulation is now accelerating its involvement. In this round of market activity, regulatory factors have become a tailwind: the U.S. regulatory attitude is becoming more lenient, ETFs have been approved, trading has been opened in places like Hong Kong, and Bitcoin's strategic reserves are providing positive expectations for the market. This means that institutional capital can participate in cryptocurrency asset investments more aggressively. This ecological change suggests that this round of altcoin season may be more orderly and emphasize value support.

4. Analysis of Potential Sectors and Popular Narrative Trends

1. The Meme Coin Frenzy Continues

Undoubtedly, meme coins have become the most active sector in the cryptocurrency market. The launch of Pump.fun has lowered the threshold for creating meme coins to zero, allowing "everyone to mint coins" and igniting a gold rush for meme coins. Despite the overall market being in a state of turmoil at the beginning of this year, with CZ's endorsements, the launch of the BNB chain's meme coin platform Four.me, the introduction of Binance Alpha, and the TGE of the Binance wallet, the BNB chain has become the second-largest active network for meme coins, only behind Solana. Recently, meme launch platforms have gradually broken the monopoly of Pump.fun. With the introduction of Raydium's LaunchLab and the emergence of Letsbonk.fun and Believe based on it, as well as Eliza Labs releasing auto.fun, replicating the "zero-code issuance" experience of pump.fun while adding AI agent deployment features, meme tokens will continue to exhibit explosive growth, further enhancing their speculative nature and volatility.

Additionally, established meme coins like DOGE and SHIB have finally found new catalysts in 2025 after a long period. In addition to the resurgence of established meme coins, newer meme coins such as BONK, WIF, PEPE, MOODENG, POPCAT, and FARTCOIN have taken turns to rally. As a meme coin associated with Trump, TRUMP has experienced fluctuations since its issuance in January, with a significant rebound in price driven by the "TRUMP Dinner" event on May 22. This indicates that meme coins with active communities and sustained influence will gradually break free from the limitations of short-term speculation and solidify their consensus value.

The funding sources for meme coins primarily come from speculative retail investors. Currently, on-chain data shows that trading is frequent but with small individual transaction sizes, indicating a clear characteristic of quick in-and-out capital. At the same time, discussions about meme coins on social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit have increased, with some KOLs starting to recommend "today's tenfold potential coins" daily, indicating that speculative sentiment is brewing.

2. AI Sector Remains Hot

Since the launch of ChatGPT, which ignited the AI wave last year, a number of AI concept coins, such as FET, AGIX, and OCEAN, briefly took off. However, as the market cooled, these tokens experienced deep corrections. Entering 2025, global attention on artificial intelligence has only increased, coupled with the cryptocurrency market turning bullish, the AI sector has become active again. Since April of this year, several AI concept coins have seen rapid increases, far exceeding the overall market. Fetch.ai (FET) has continuously announced technological advancements in recent months and has partnered with Google Cloud, showing positive fundamentals. Technically, FET formed a rounded bottom after bottoming out in February and established a classic cup-and-handle pattern in mid-April, indicating that the market is full of expectations for its return to a bull market.

Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) and ai16z (AI16Z), two AI agent projects, achieved impressive gains by the end of 2024 but lost about 90% of their market capitalization during the overall correction at the beginning of this year. In April, as the market warmed up, both experienced explosive rebounds, refocusing market attention on the popular concept of "AI agents." In the second half of 2025, if global AI applications continue to surge, AI narrative tokens may see a dual reinforcement of fundamentals and market sentiment.

3. Layer 2 Expected to Catch Up

Ethereum's Layer 2 scaling has been one of the most important technological trends in the cryptocurrency space over the past two years. Entering 2025, this sector continues to evolve and has seen some new changes. The Layer 2 sector is showing a multi-legged competitive landscape: Arbitrum leads in user numbers and ecological DApps, Optimism maintains its influence with OP Stack, while Base rapidly expands its user base leveraging Coinbase's resources. In contrast to ecological progress, the token prices of Layer 2 projects have performed relatively poorly in this round of market activity. Since April, both ARB and OP have rebounded moderately with the market, but their overall increases lag behind the broader market. Especially for Arbitrum, the community governance turmoil following last year's airdrop and the subsequent 80% drop have caused cautious market expectations for recovery. Despite the short-term token performance being lackluster, the long-term potential and strategic position of the Layer 2 sector are still viewed positively by industry insiders.

It is worth noting that the strong recovery of high-performance L1s such as Solana, BNB, and Sui poses some competitive pressure on L2. However, considering compatibility and security, L2 remains the preferred path for the expansion of the Ethereum ecosystem. If the market continues to evolve, subsequent funds may rotate back from overheated small-cap coins to these high-market-cap platform tokens, achieving a catch-up rally.

4. RWA Sector Favored by Institutions

RWA is another significant narrative for institutions in this round of the cryptocurrency market. Against the backdrop of rising interest rates for traditional assets due to the Federal Reserve's continuous rate hikes, DeFi's embrace of RWA is seen as a "win-win" strategy: DeFi users can obtain stable on-chain yields, while traditional institutions can expand their financing channels. MakerDAO and Ondo Finance are the two pillars of the RWA sector. MakerDAO has configured government bonds through its "Endgame Plan," providing reliable yields for its stablecoin DAI, allowing MKR token holders to share in the protocol's profits and increase in value; Ondo directly offers tokenized U.S. Treasury funds to institutions and large holders, innovatively allowing on-chain users to conveniently hold traditional financial products. Additionally, projects like Maple Finance (providing on-chain credit for institutions) and Centrifuge (asset securitization token platform) are also worth attention. Each of these projects has its focus but collectively promotes the integration of on-chain and off-chain finance.

Although the RWA concept is hot, the participation of ordinary retail investors is currently relatively limited. Many RWA products involve compliance requirements (KYC, accredited investor thresholds) and professional knowledge, leaving small investors mostly at the conceptual stage. This means that the market activity in the RWA sector is primarily driven by large funds.

5. Conclusion and Outlook

Various signs indicate that the cryptocurrency market has significantly warmed up, but the true peak of frenzy may still be ahead, with the "altcoin season" on the horizon. Bitcoin's dominance has declined from its peak, numerous altcoins are rallying in turn, new narratives are emerging, and market sentiment is shifting from caution to greed… Overall, the market is transitioning from a "Bitcoin market" to an "altcoin market," with the altcoin season already in preliminary brewing and unfolding, but not yet at the most frenzied climax.

In summary, the current cryptocurrency market is at a delicate balance point: Bitcoin is leading the charge, altcoins are poised for action, and the rationality of institutions intertwines with retail sentiment. The altcoin season is brewing but has not yet fully erupted. We expect that as macroeconomic benefits continue and capital flows in further, the altcoin sector is likely to welcome a more vigorous climax in the second half of the year. However, this time, the market may not simply replicate past frenzied patterns but evolve new characteristics in a mature market environment.

Macroeconomic liquidity will be the decisive factor influencing the length and height of this round of market activity. A current consensus in the market is that the Federal Reserve may begin to cut interest rates in the second half of 2025. Once we enter a substantial rate-cutting cycle, global liquidity will further loosen, and risk assets are expected to experience "accelerated growth in the latter half." Therefore, this round of the cryptocurrency bull market may see a "double peak"—rising in the first half driven by expectations and then surging again in the second half due to actual easing. This means that the altcoin market may not only not come to an abrupt halt but may also have a second spring to look forward to. If liquidity continues to improve and narratives continue to ferment, the climax of the altcoin season may occur in the second half of 2025 or even early 2026. Until then, this feast is likely to continue for some time.

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