Bitcoin dominated crypto narratives in 2024 and early 2025, but attention is quickly shifting to Ethereum. The market-leading altcoin is now showing immense strength, both in on-chain activity and investor interest.
The Ethereum network is showing bullish signs, with a record 1.8 million transactions this month. Whale rotations are also playing a role in its recent outperformance compared to $BTC.
As Ether begins to establish dominance, analysts are preparing for capital flows into the broader altcoin market, which is expected to trigger an Altcoin Season. During this time, smaller cryptocurrencies could experience substantial returns, with gains of 10x to 100x being common in previous Altcoin Seasons.
As such, traders are eager to find projects with the most potential to climb in the months ahead. Let’s consider current market dynamics and use cases to identify the four best altcoins to buy now.
Ethereum Pumps While Bitcoin Dumps
The Ethereum price has increased by 3% in the past 24 hours, while Bitcoin is down by nearly 1%. The same pattern is visible on a higher timeframe, with Ethereum up by around 20% this month and Bitcoin declining by 5%.
Ethereum’s strength is driven by a combination of rising on-chain activity and interest from whales. The Ethereum network’s daily transactions reached a record high of 1.8 million on August 5, reflecting rising ecosystem activity and providing a source of utility-driven demand for Ether.
Additionally, the network has reached its highest-ever level of staked $ETH, with almost 30% of the total supply now locked, according to data from The Block.
Meanwhile, whale interest in $ETH is quickly rising, with a $5 billion Bitcoin whale transferring over $2 billion to $ETH in the past week alone. All of this signals a highly bullish setup for Ethereum and reflects a shifting dynamic as attention turns from $BTC to $ETH.
With that in mind, retail traders currently have an exciting opportunity to capitalize if they can anticipate where liquidity will flow next. So let’s explore some altcoins that show significant potential for the coming weeks and months.
Bitcoin Hyper
Bitcoin Hyper is a Bitcoin layer 2 blockchain built using the Solana Virtual Machine. It’s a unique setup that combines Bitcoin’s security and decentralized features with Solana’s speed, smart contracts, and active developer community.
The project opens up new use cases for Bitcoin, including DeFi, payments, NFTs, and meme coins. It processes transactions on its Solana-compatible network and then uses ZK-rollups to batch transactions and report them back to the Bitcoin L1 for settlement.
It will be the first rollup-powered Bitcoin L2 on the market, making it the only L2 to truly leverage Bitcoin’s benefits while providing fast and low-cost transactions.
Bitcoin Hyper is currently in a presale and has raised over $13 million so far, making it one of the largest presales on the market.
With its early stage, strong momentum, and market-leading use case, $HYPER could become one of the biggest winners as investors rotate to Bitcoin alternatives. Visit Bitcoin Hyper.
Polygon
Polygon remains a top Ethereum scaling platform, having processed billions of transactions at low costs. Its ZK-rollup L2, zkEVM, positions it as a more secure setup compared to optimistic-rollup-based L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism.
Like Ethereum, Polygon experienced a lengthy period of underperformance this cycle, but it seems to be gaining momentum: $POL has jumped 13% today and 36% this month, making it one of the best-performing major altcoins.
Polygon’s low transaction fees and secure ZK-rollup infrastructure are making it popular for stablecoin activity, with analyst Petertherock noting it is “becoming Singapore’s stablecoin hub.”
The analyst added that it consistently ranks higher than Avalanche, Ethereum, and Arbitrum in terms of transactions in $XSGD.
Also, Polygon has the highest number of transactions in cross-chain stablecoin USDT0.
PEPENODE
Since its launch in 2023, Pepe has proved to be one of the Ethereum network’s top meme coins. However, during this Ethereum rally, a new Pepe-themed meme coin has entered the market, and it’s not just here to entertain.
PEPENODE is the new Pepe-themed utility token, introducing the first-ever Mine-to-Earn meme coin that lets users earn rewards through a gamified virtual mining experience.
It allows users to build and upgrade mining rigs, combine miner nodes to create the most powerful setup, earn XP, and climb the in-game leaderboard to maximize their rewards. $PEPENODE is the platform’s native utility token, and 70% of tokens spent on upgrades will be burned, creating deflationary pressure that could help boost the price.
PEPENODE is currently in a presale and has already raised over $500,000 in its first few days, demonstrating strong demand from early investors.
With meme hype, real token utility, and inherent deflationary pressure, PEPENODE has significant upside potential once it hits exchanges. Visit PEPENODE.
Story
AI has reshaped the world since the launch of ChatGPT-3 in 2022. Business models have shifted, netizens have changed how they research and interact with data, and numerous multi-billion-dollar companies have emerged.
However, the industry still faces the urgent issue of intellectual property violations, as the data used to train AI is often protected by IP rights, leading to lawsuits and legal conflicts.
Story is an L1 blockchain focused on solving this issue by connecting AI engineers with artists and creators through a decentralized marketplace.
The network enables AI developers to purchase IP rights, allowing them to train their AI models without worrying about potential legal issues. It produces cross-chain programmable IP assets that unlock seamless interoperability and a world of new opportunities.
$IP has surged by 23% today, making it the best-performing crypto in the top 100, reflecting its bullish outlook and signalling potential for further gains as Altcoin Season begins.
