Altcoin spot volume surges to nearly 4x Bitcoin’s, highest in a year

Altcoins are having a moment, and the numbers are hard to ignore. Spot trading volume for altcoins has surged to nearly four times that of Bitcoin, reaching the highest ratio recorded since September 2025, according to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode. The altcoin rotation is picking up speed The Altcoin Season Index climbed to 62% as of late September, up from 50% just a week earlier and from 33% only a month prior. In the seven days ending September 22, roughly 72.5% of altcoins tracked by Glassnode outperformed Bitcoin. The comparable figure during a similar surge in August was just 39%. A full 87% of Binance-listed altcoins were trading above their 200-day moving averages as of late September. Glassnode noted that similar spikes in altcoin volume relative to Bitcoin have historically coincided with local price peaks for Bitcoin itself. The leverage picture tells a different story Despite the surge in spot activity, altcoin perpetual futures open interest showed negligible growth over the past month. That is a notable divergence from the setup that preceded prior market tops in February 2021 and December 2024, both of which saw significant buildup in leveraged positions before ...