Bitwise Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Matt Hougan said that the long-discussed “altcoin season” concept in the crypto market may not happen as it once did. According to Hougan, the widespread altcoin rallies seen in the past, where almost all crypto assets rose simultaneously, may be largely a thing of the past.
In his assessment, Hougan stated that the market has now evolved into a more selective structure. In past cycles, investors typically turned to Bitcoin first, then capital flowed widely towards Ethereum, and later to DeFi and NFT projects. This process was described as the classic “altcoin season,” where the prices of almost all altcoins in the market rose simultaneously.
According to Hougan, a more “unconventional” altcoin cycle may be seen in the coming period. In this new era, only projects with real use cases, strong business models, and concrete growth signals are expected to be rewarded by the market. In other words, it may be more difficult for speculative projects to achieve widespread growth compared to the past.
Bitwise’s CIO also noted that the market will become increasingly diversified and that some tokens, particularly those linked to large-scale business operations, may be repriced. Hougan added that Bitcoin may have recently approached its bottom levels and that the price has started to show an upward trend again.
On the other hand, disagreements continue within the sector regarding the future of the altcoin season. According to data shared by the on-chain data platform Santiment, references to the word “altcoin” on social media have fallen to their lowest level in the last two years. This indicates that investor interest is currently largely focused on Bitcoin.
