Key takeaways
Will the approval of altcoin ETFs trigger an alt season?
Liquidity below $100 billion and BTC dominance near 60% still limits upside, but an ETH-led rally could change that.
What do analysts think of the huge altcoin ETFs reviewed?
More than 150 ETF filings, led by Solana, suggest that TradFi prefers diversified exposure to crypto indices over single tokens.
The altcoin rush appears to be intensifying. According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, there are 155 crypto ETPs awaiting applications that track 35 different digital assets, mostly dominated by Solana (SOL).
Solana filings awaiting the SEC’s decision numbered 23, Ripple (XRP) and new Ethereum (ETH) the applications were 20 and 10 respectively. Diversified or basket indices tracking several crypto assets attracted significant interest from 10 issuers.
Balchunas added that this could just be the beginning of the crypto rush.
“There could easily be over 200 on the market in the next 12 months. Total land rush.”
The most anticipated applications such as Spot SOL and XRP ETFs are expected to be approved in October. But the current U.S. government shutdown has disrupted the schedule.
Will the SEC trigger an altcoin season?
Nate Geraci of ETF Store, however, doubt that TradFi will skip all these altcoins. Instead, he predicted they could opt for indexes tracking a basket of crypto assets.
“There’s no question that commercial investors are going to be willing to navigate all of these unique tokens. They’re going to take a diversified and focused approach to an emerging asset class.”
That said, the recent altcoin sell-off has eased, as evidenced by the easing of altcoin trading flows.
Facilitate entries, reduce liquidity
Source: CryptoQuant
While this may increase the chances of a broader altcoin market recovery, liquidity has declined significantly since mid-October.
Stablecoins Exchange Inflow, which tracks ecosystem liquidity, fell below $100 billion for the first time since July. Past liquidity declines have coincided with Bitcoin (BTC) price consolidation or pullbacks that also weighed on altcoins.
In the first quarter of 2025, for example, liquidity fell by half, from more than $160 billion to less than $80 billion. The price of BTC fell by 30%, from $109,000 to $70,000.
Source: CryptoQuant
Interestingly, the liquidity environment improved in Q2 and BTC also recovered to over $126,000, lifting some altcoins like Hyperliquid (HYPE) with that.
BTC Dominance Signals Mixed Pattern
Another altcoin season tracker, BTC dominance, remained below 60% at press time, suggesting an altcoin surge could be likely if liquidity improves and ETH leads the rally.
Source: TradingView (BTC Dominance vs ETH/BTC ratio)
Meanwhile, the Altcoin Season Index while reading was almost neutral (at 43), indicating that it was a firm BTC season.
