Altseason Frenzy Erupts: Altcoin Liquidations Surpass Bitcoin for First Time in 2025

The crypto market's sleeping giant just woke up—and it's not Bitcoin. Altcoins are stealing the spotlight as liquidation volumes flip the script on the old hierarchy.

Blood in the water or smart money moving? Traders are scrambling to decode whether this is the start of a sustained altseason or just another pump-and-dump masquerading as progress. Meanwhile, Bitcoin maximalists are suddenly very interested in 'diversification strategies.'

One thing's clear: when altcoins start outpacing Bitcoin in liquidations, somebody's getting rich—and it's probably not retail investors. The house always wins, especially in crypto casinos.

Crypto Sentiment Shifts: Altcoins Lead In Liquidations, Overtake BTC

An altseason is defined as a period in the crypto bull run where altcoins generally outperform Bitcoin. It is typically marked by a decline in BTC Dominance as investors rotate capital from bitcoin into other cryptocurrencies that promise higher profit returns during this period. Over the last two months, signals of an impending altcoin dominance for the current bull market continue to pile up.

In a QuickTake post on CryptoQuant, CEO & Founder of Alphractal, Joas Wedson, reports another omen in that altcoin liquidations are now higher than those of Bitcoin. From January to December 2024, the majority of cumulative liquidations on Binance came from Bitcoin positions, significantly outpacing those of all other cryptocurrencies.

This trend painted a clear picture, i.e., Bitcoin was the primary focus for Leveraged traders. However, since the start of 2025, the tides have turned. The BTC vs. Altcoin Cumulative Liquidation Delta, a key metric tracking the liquidation disparity between Bitcoin and altcoins, has been falling steadily throughout 2025. This decline indicates that altcoin liquidations are catching up and now surpassing those of BTC.

In the second half of 2025, this shift has become more pronounced, suggesting that traders are now more active and more vulnerable in altcoin markets than ever before. Wedson explains the bullish implications of this development for an altseason, stating that traders are now increasing speculations on altcoins more than Bitcoin.

This suggests a significant change in market behavior as Ethereum, XRP, and other alternative cryptocurrencies are increasingly being viewed as higher-risk, higher-reward vehicles, even as Bitcoin remains the dominant store of value in the crypto space.

Crypto Market Overview: Altseason Remains On Hold

At the time of writing, the total crypto market cap is now valued at $3.93 trillion following a 0.22% gain in the past day. Altcoins currently account for 40.4% of this value with a collective market cap of $1.59 trillion.

Meanwhile, the CoinMarketCap’s Altseason Index currently reads 46, suggesting that while altcoins are gaining ground, market conditions have yet to fully align with a classic “altseason” scenario.