Crypto Alpha:

Are Altcoins Outperforming Bitcoin?

Bitcoin Season persists with CMC Altcoin Season Index at 19/100 and BTC dominance holding 58.49%, near 2025 highs despite a minor 24-hour dip of 0.09 points.

Institutional capital flows heavily favor Bitcoin with spot BTC ETFs drawing $1.55 billion inflows this week compared to Ethereum's $300 million.

Derivatives markets show limited altcoin appetite as BTC perpetuals funding rates jumped 21.2% in 24 hours while altcoin-BTC spreads compressed to just 0.0014%.

Why Does It Matter: When Bitcoin dominance stays above 55% and funding rates favor BTC, altcoins usually struggle to gain momentum. Past cycles show that altcoin rallies need two things: falling BTC dominance and risk-on sentiment. Right now, Extreme Fear readings and macro uncertainty keep traders in Bitcoin's safer liquidity pool. Until dominance drops and sentiment shifts, most altcoins face headwinds even if a few tokens pump on specific news.