There has been a major shift in profitability since Bitcoin’s price dropped from $126,000, and altcoins are bearing the brunt of it. With the major altcoins down between 30% and 80% from their all-time highs, calls for an altcoin season have dropped dramatically. This is reflected in the performance of the Altcoin Season Index, which has fallen to one of the lowest levels on record in 2025 as the year comes to a close.
Altcoin Season Index says losses are the order of the day
The Altcoin seasonal index chart on the CoinMarketCap website, which traces the performance of altcoins compared to Bitcoin has now fallen below 20 again. This index aggregates the performance of the top 100 altcoins in the market and compares their 90-day performance to that of Bitcoin to determine if the market is currently experiencing an altcoin season.
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The index ranks performance on a scale of 1-100, depending on the number altcoins from the top 100 outperform Bitcoinand uses that to score in the market. At the time of writing, the Altcoin Season Index stood at a score of 17, meaning that only 17 of the top 100 altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin over the past 90 days.
With the index’s score being so low, it indicates that altcoins are currently in a bear market. Furthermore, Ethereum, which is often the altcoin leader when it comes to an alt season, is still underperforming compared to Bitcoin. The second largest cryptocurrency has registered a decline of 28.30% over the past 90 days, while Bitcoin has fallen 21.10% in comparison.
How do you know if Altcoins are in a bull run?
To know if the altcoin market is experiencing an altcoin season, the index should have a score of 75 or higher. This is when the majority of altcoins outperform Bitcoin over a three-month period, and their combined market capitalization surpasses that of the leading cryptocurrency.
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Scores lower than 75 suggest the market is has yet to enter a full-fledged altcoin seasonand the lower it goes, the more likely altcoins are to experience a bear market. However, the higher the Altcoin Season Index score is, close to 100, the more likely it is that the altcoin market will experience a top.
Altcoin seasons are often characterized by rapid price increases, with 100% rallies on a daily basis being the norm. The last major altcoin season was in 2021, and while it was expected that another altcoin season would start in 2025, this was not the case.
Featured image of Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com