AltcoinsMarkets
|3 min ReadAltcoin season hints emerge as Bitcoin dominance wobbles
Jax Morales
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
The recent swings in Bitcoin’s market share may be the tell for what comes next.
Analyst says BTC dominance looks bearish for weeks
“The reason why you should have confidence in the altcoin price action is because the BTC Dominance chart looks bearish and has looked bearish for many weeks,” crypto analyst Matthew Hyland said on Friday. He added that the latest bounce is “a dead cat bounce in a downtrend.” In a separate video on Saturday, Hyland said traditional finance giants may have orchestrated Bitcoin’s recent volatility. “A lot of this was really just manipulation, essentially for Wall Street to set themselves up,” he claimed.
Bitcoin dominance, which tracks BTC’s share of the crypto market, has slipped 5.13% over the past six months and sits at 59.90% at publication, according to TradingView. It was only on Nov. 4 that Bitcoin dropped below $100,000 for the first time in four months, a move that rattled traders who are watching the next big rotation.
Bitcoin dominance is down 5.05% over the past six months. Source: Trading View
Bitcoin is trading at $102,090 at press time, according to CoinMarketCap. While Hyland argues that altcoins could gain momentum soon, several gauges still point to a Bitcoin-led market. CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index stands at 28 out of 100, well inside “Bitcoin Season.”
Bitcoin is down 15.65% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap
Altcoin season may look different this time
The last Altcoin Season signal hit on Oct. 8, just days after Bitcoin printed a new all-time high of 19 billion in leveraged positions was wiped out of crypto markets, pulling the index back to risk-off mode. Related: Bitcoin price crash calls are coming from self-serving sellers: Analyst.
Some executives say any coming rotation will be selective. Maen Ftouni, CEO of CoinQuant, recently said that older cryptocurrencies with an ETF or expected to receive one will soak up much of the capital in the next cycle. “Not every single coin is going to have massive returns; the liquidity is going to be concentrated into certain places, dinosaurs being one of them, of course,” Ftouni said.
For now, BTC dominance has been trending lower for months, which the bulls say is the classic prelude to altcoin outperformance. The bears see a simple relief move inside a bigger Bitcoin-first market. Either way, traders are watching the dominance chart, the Altcoin Season Index at 28, and the big price levels. If momentum shifts, altcoins could get their moment. If not, Bitcoin keeps the crown. Simple. Powerful. And everybody knows the tape tells the truth.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.