Altcoin Market Faces 13 Consecutive Months of Net Selling – Has It Reached a Bottom?
Altcoin market capitalization (TOTAL2) remained under $1 trillion in February, whereas market sentiment fell to its most excessive stage in years. Many buyers anticipate altcoins to kind a backside quickly after 5 consecutive months of decline.
The first quarter of 2026 should provide alternatives. However, buyers want goal indicators to guage the broader image.
Persistent Selling Pressure and Fragmented Liquidity Weigh on Altcoins
A report from CryptoQuant states that promoting strain on altcoins (excluding BTC and ETH) has reached its most excessive stage in 5 years.
Cumulative purchase/promote delta information has reached -$209 billion over the previous 13 months. In January 2025, this delta was almost zero, which mirrored balanced provide and demand. Since then, it has continued to say no with none reversal.
This excessive situation differs utterly from the 2022 bear market. During 2022–2023, promoting strain slowed, permitting the market to enter a sideways section earlier than recovering. That slowdown has not occurred within the present cycle.
“This will not be a dip. It’s 13 months of steady internet promoting on CEX spot. -209B doesn’t imply backside. It means patrons are gone,” analyst IT Tech (*13*).
Additionally, derivatives information can present extra short-term insights. Traders are presently holding considerably extra lengthy positions in Bitcoin than in altcoins, as mirrored in Alphractal’s Long/Short Ratio information.
The chart exhibits that that is the primary time in historical past that Bitcoin’s lengthy ratio has remained above the altcoin common for 4 consecutive months. This signifies that short-term merchants have lowered their publicity to altcoins and that expectations for altcoin volatility have weakened.
In addition, the overall altcoin market capitalization has dropped again to ranges 5 years in the past, under $1 trillion. The altcoin analytics account OverDose pointed out that the most important distinction lies within the quantity of tokens. Five years in the past, solely about 430,000 cash had been listed. Currently, that determine has surged to 31.8 million, a rise of roughly 70 instances.
Too many tokens are competing for a market “pie” that has not grown bigger. This dynamic makes restoration extra fragile and threatens the survival of low-cap tokens.
Excluding the highest 10, the remaining market capitalization stands at lower than $200 billion. The technical construction exhibits a head-and-shoulders sample, and this capitalization is transferring towards its neckline assist. Analyst Pentoshi commented that even when altcoins rebound, the features will doubtless not be substantial.
“Even if alts bounce right here, it doubtless received’t be substantial. I believe ultimately they make new lows… Imo it’s going to take a while to work by,” analyst Pentoshi predicted.
According to CoinGecko analysis, 53.2% of all cryptocurrencies listed on GeckoTerminal had failed by the top of 2025. In 2025 alone, 11.6 million tokens collapsed.
The current bear market might completely reshape how buyers allocate capital within the altcoin sector. Market individuals might turn into extra selective, prioritize liquidity and fundamentals, and cut back publicity to speculative low-cap property.
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