‘Altcoin season:’ Hyperliquid whale’s prediction as Bitcoin nears $120K
USDT dominance declined but stubborn BTC dominance was holding the altcoin market from a blast off.
- A whale trader projected that the altcoin season momentum may pick up after BTC tops in June.
- BTC dominance was still stubborn after strengthening to nearly 64%.
The early Q2 2025 rebound saw some select altcoins post double and triple-digit gains as Bitcoin [BTC] climbed from $74K to over $100K.
Now, with BTC printing a new high above $111K, a renewed and broader altcoin season may be witnessed soon, according to renowned Hyperliquid whale trader James Wynn.
“I do think once Bitcoin tops around $118k-$122k and we’ll see a cool off and some sideways movement, and then this is where things get really interesting. Altcoin season.”
Wynn, who recently opened an $800 million BTC long position on Hyperliquid, expected the crypto asset to hit a top in a week or so.
If validated, then the altcoin season may hit in June.
Assessing altcoin season signals
Several early signs pointed to a budding altcoin season, especially after a slight drop in Tether’s USDT dominance (USDT.D).
This suggests improving liquidity conditions as users reduce USDT holdings for altcoin gems.
Notably, the above chart showed that the April bounce was this cycle’s third altcoin season phase, despite being relatively sluggish and concentrated on select gems.
In each scenario, USDT dominance decline (red lines) was marked by a run-up (green arrows) in the altcoin market size (TOTAL 3, excluding BTC and ETH).
In Q2 2025 alone, the altcoin market cap added $200 billion after USDT dominance slipped from 6% to 4.3%.
But BTC dominance (BTC.D) strengthened to nearly 64% from mid-May, subjecting the sector to a brief cool-off.
So, the BTC dominance needs to drop lower for Wynn’s projection to materialize.
Another barometer, the ETH/BTC ratio, also leaned towards Wynn’s projection, noted Chris Burniske, crypto VC partner at Placeholder, he said,
“If $ETH keeps making moves against $BTC, then Alt season will be upon us. May all your bags moon, for a period.”
The ratio recently jumped 40%, underscoring ETH’s outperformance against BTC, a bullish cue for altcoins. Any extended rally could increase the odds of the expected altcoin rally.
However, market analyst Crypto Cred warned traders that not all BTC profits will be rotated to altcoins. He urged traders to focus only on top gems.
In fact, Solana [SOL] and several other altcoins were on the verge of clearing the 200-day SMA (Simple Moving Average), raising the odds of a further rally.
That said, the altcoin season index was still low at 20, underscoring a BTC season at the time of writing.
