Altcoins are not currently outperforming Bitcoin, per today’s CMC Altcoin Season Index reading of 32/100 (Bitcoin Season).
$BTC dominance 58.41% (+0.42 pts 24 h) and CMC Altcoin Season Index 32/100 (Bitcoin Season) – Capital is rotating toward Bitcoin as a safe haven amid extreme market fear.
Sector rotation → Bitcoin narratives dominate – Top trending categories are Bitcoin Ecosystem and FTX Estate, while major altcoins like $ETH (+1.27% 7d) lag Bitcoin’s +2.53% gain.
Speculative flows cool → alt momentum fades – Despite isolated pumps (e.g., ENSO +67%), derivatives open interest and funding rates are falling, reducing fuel for broad alt rallies.
Deep Dive
1. BTC dominance & CMC Altcoin Season Index shift
Bitcoin dominance rose to 58.41% on February 20, up 0.42 percentage points in 24 hours, while the CMC Altcoin Season Index fell 11.11% to 32/100, solidifying a "Bitcoin Season" reading. This indicates investors are shifting capital from riskier altcoins into Bitcoin amid prevailing extreme fear sentiment (Fear & Greed Index: 12). (CoinMarketCap, (CoinMarketCap)
What this means: The market is in a defensive, risk-off mode where Bitcoin is seen as a relative safe haven, drawing liquidity away from altcoins.
2. Sector rotation favors Bitcoin narratives
The top two trending crypto categories are Bitcoin Ecosystem and FTX Bankruptcy Estate, which together represent over $3 trillion in market cap. Meanwhile, large-cap altcoins like Ethereum are underperforming Bitcoin over the past week (ETH +1.27% vs. BTC +2.53%). Social sentiment for "BTC" and "Bitcoin" remains high (net sentiment ~4.83/10), but lacks the explosive bullishness typically seen during alt season breakouts.
What this means: Investor attention and capital are concentrated on Bitcoin-centric stories and asset recovery plays, not on rotating into smaller, high-beta altcoins.
3. Speculative leverage retreats, capping alt rallies
Total crypto derivatives open interest has fallen 27.91% over the past week, and the average funding rate dropped 185.01% in 24 hours to 0.00092004%. While a few low-cap altcoins like Enso (ENSO) and Aztec (AZTEC) saw massive pumps (+67% to +71%) due to exchange listing catalysts, these are isolated events. Broad altcoin momentum is lacking, as evidenced by declining spot vs. perpetuals volume ratios.
What this means: Traders are de-risking and reducing leveraged bets, which removes the speculative fuel needed for a sustainable, market-wide altcoin rally.
Conclusion: Bitcoin Maintains Its Lead
Altcoins are broadly underperforming Bitcoin, as capital seeks the relative safety of the market leader amid extreme fear and contracting leverage. Watch for a sustained rise in the CMC Altcoin Season Index above 50 as the earliest signal of a potential rotation back into altcoins.