Quick Take
1. The Altcoin Season Index reads 56 out of 100, its highest in months, after climbing from 48 on September 19, but the threshold for a declared altcoin season is 75.
2. Today’s tape fits the pattern: XRP gained 6.59% to $1.5540 and Solana 4.42% to $118.20 against Bitcoin’s 1.58% at $84,558.90.
3. The market flipped out of Bitcoin Season into Neutral on September 2, according to Blockchaincenter’s tracking, and has stayed there for three weeks without reaching altseason.
Altcoin season is the most searched question in crypto right now, and the index built to answer it says no, not yet. The Altcoin Season Index sits at 56 out of 100, well above where it spent the summer and well below the level that would settle the argument.
Total crypto market capitalization stands at $2.89 trillion on $96.34 billion of daily volume. Live data via CoinMarketCap.
What is the Altcoin Season Index?
The Altcoin Season Index measures how many of the top 100 cryptocurrencies have outperformed Bitcoin over the previous 90 days, expressed as a score from 0 to 100.
If 75% of those coins beat Bitcoin across that window, the market is in Altcoin Season. If 25% or fewer do, it is Bitcoin Season. Everything between is neutral. Stablecoins such as Tether and asset-backed tokens like wrapped Bitcoin and staked Ether are excluded, because their prices track something else by design.
Methodologies differ slightly between providers. CoinMarketCap uses the top 100; Blockchaincenter uses the top 50 with the same 75 and 25 thresholds. That means the two can print different numbers on the same day, which is worth knowing before quoting either as definitive.
Is it altcoin season right now?
No. At 56 the index is in neutral territory, roughly 19 points below the threshold.
The direction is what has changed. The index climbed to 48 on September 19, described then as its highest level in months, and has continued to 56 since. Blockchaincenter’s record shows the last flip occurred on September 2, when the market moved from Bitcoin Season into Neutral, and it has held there for three weeks.
Neutral for three weeks after months of Bitcoin dominance is a meaningful shift. It is not altseason, and the distinction matters because the two produce very different outcomes for anyone positioning around them.
What does today’s market look like underneath?
Broad participation with altcoins leading, which is consistent with a rising index.
XRP rose 6.59% to $1.5540 and Solana 4.42% to $118.20, both multiples of Bitcoin’s 1.58%. Ethereum added 2.35% to $2,703.80 and BNB 1.33% to $776.44. The CoinMarketCap 20 Index gained 2.16% to $177.97.
The recent weekly performance tells the story more clearly than a single day. NEAR Protocol has gained roughly 92% in a week, while Arbitrum, Uniswap, Ethena and Zcash have all posted gains above 40% over comparable periods. Bitcoin has spent the same stretch in a relatively narrow range.
This site maintains its own daily breadth record, counting advancing against declining assets, which provides a shorter-term view than the index’s 90-day window:
| Date | Advancing | Declining |
|---|---|---|
| August 25 | 16 | 84 |
| August 26 | 7 | 93 |
| September 10 | 12 | 88 |
| September 15 | 27 | 71 |
| September 17 | 89 | 10 |
| September 22 | 61 | 38 |
Breadth collapsed through late August and early September, then reversed sharply on September 17 and has stayed broad since. The Altcoin Season Index, working on a 90-day lookback, is still catching up to that change.
Why does the 90-day window matter?
Because the index is deliberately slow, and that is a feature rather than a flaw.
A 90-day measurement will not register a two-week rotation. It requires sustained outperformance, which filters out the brief altcoin bounces that occur inside every Bitcoin-led market. The cost is lag: by the time the index confirms altseason, a substantial part of the move has usually happened.
The boundary worth stating: an index at 56 tells you what the last 90 days looked like relative to Bitcoin. It says nothing about the next 90. Traders using it as a forward signal are reading a rear-view mirror.
What would confirm altcoin season?
Sustained outperformance by 75% of the top 100 over a rolling 90-day window, which needs Bitcoin to stall while altcoins keep rising.
That combination is not currently present. Bitcoin gained roughly 12% over the past week and reclaimed the $82,225 average cost basis of US spot ETF holders. An asset that is itself rallying makes the outperformance bar harder to clear, which is why the index can rise slowly even during a strong altcoin week.
Bitcoin dominance is the companion metric to watch, tracked live on CoinMarketCap. It has drifted from 59.25% in late August toward the high 58% range, consistent with rotation but not with a decisive break.
Bottom line
The Altcoin Season Index reads 56 out of 100, its highest in months and up from 48 on September 19, but altcoin season requires 75 and the market has been in neutral since September 2.
Altcoins are outperforming and the index is rising, which is the honest version of where things stand. Declaring altseason at 56 misstates a measure designed to be slow on purpose. Watch the index cross 75, or watch Bitcoin dominance break down, and until one of those happens this is a rotation rather than a season.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice. Crypto assets are extremely volatile and you can lose your entire stake. Always do your own research.
