- Bitcoin broke another record this week.
- Will altcoins follow suit?
- Bitpanda’s deputy CEO says it depends on two factors.
Bitcoin has broken records, but the rest of the crypto market is still playing catch-up.
While top cryptocurrency tore through $123,000 this week, most altcoins — everything that isn’t Bitcoin — are lagging behind.
So, when are the cryptocurrencies not named Bitcoin going to enjoy their bull market?
“For a full-scale altcoin rally, we need two things: profit rotation and confidence,” Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, deputy CEO of crypto exchange Bitpanda, told DL News.
“Once Bitcoin consolidates and investors begin rotating capital into higher-risk assets, we tend to see altcoins move more aggressively.”
For now, it’s a one-man show.
This month, Bitcoin has enjoyed a 12% price rally as three crypto bills worm their way through Washington, exchange-traded fund inflows remain stable, a wave of corporates buy Bitcoin, and the anticipation the Federal Reserve cutting interest rate grows.
Altcoin season
Altcoin season — the market phase when tokens like Ethereum, Solana, and XRP outperform Bitcoin — is often seen as the next leg in the crypto cycle.
But Enzersdorfer-Konrad says we’re not quite there yet.
“The biggest driver for altcoin performance in the coming weeks and months is going to be investor sentiment and overall risk appetite,” he said.
The setup may be forming.
Bitcoin is consolidating near all-time highs. And real yields are still low — a recipe, Enzersdorfer-Konrad says, for capital to flow into higher-risk bets like DeFi, gaming tokens, and tokenised real-world assets.
Cautiously optimistic
Still, the spark hasn’t lit.
That’s because Bitcoin is yet to consolidate at a price level, allowing investors to start moving down the risk curve.
Enzersdorfer-Konrad is cautious about whether that will soon translate into new price records for the likes of Ethereum, XRP and Solana.
A lot “will depend on overall market sentiment, global liquidity, and whether investors are ready to move further out on the risk curve,” he said.
“It’s less about individual names and more about the broader setup taking shape.”
Pedro Solimano is DL News’ Buenos Aires-based markets correspondent. Got at a tip? Email atpsolimano@dlnews.com.