On Tuesday, May 13, the cryptocurrency market is valued at $3.33 trillion, marking a 0.44% increase in the past 24 hours. While bitcoin posted a 10% weekly rise, ethereum’s striking 44% climb—paired with a wave of double-digit gains across several altcoins—has prompted growing speculation that the often-discussed ‘Altcoin Season’ may be near.
Crypto Market Swells to $3.33T
With bitcoin (BTC) trading above $103,000 and hovering within 5% of its historical peak, sentiment is shifting toward alternative tokens, and this week offered strong signals. Ethereum ( ETH) jumped 44.8% over the past seven days, while dogwifhat (WIF) soared with a 108.8% gain. PI saw an increase of 95.2%, PEPE advanced by 79.4%, and ENA climbed 49.5%. All told, a wide array of altcoins posted notable double-digit gains over the course of the week.
Naturally, this has reignited widespread speculation about the arrival of ‘Altcoin Season.’ The term is used within the cryptocurrency community to describe a market phase where altcoins—cryptocurrencies other than BTC—experience significant price surges, often outperforming BTC.
On Tuesday, one X user commented, “Ethereum is creeping up while eyes are on bitcoin stalling near all time highs… before you know it ETH will be close to all time highs again and the market buzz will kick off… altcoin season is closing in. I can feel it.”
Another X account remarked:
ALT Season is imminent. Are you positioned, Anon?
Over the past week, a broad array of X accounts have been energetically debating or forecasting the potential onset of ‘Altcoin Season,’ drawing from both current market momentum and recurring historical patterns. “Altcoin 50x rally — this is no joke, it’s real,” one user declared on Monday afternoon. Yet, despite the impressive weekly performance of numerous altcoins, data from blockchaincenter.net’s Altcoin Season Index (ASI) suggests the phenomenon has not fully materialized just yet.
According to the site’s criteria, it qualifies as ‘Altcoin Season’ when 75% of the top 50 cryptocurrencies have outperformed bitcoin over the previous 90-day stretch (90 days = a season). As of today, the index reads just 24—still distant from the 75 threshold. So far, only 11 individual coins have posted stronger gains than bitcoin during this past period. The last instance the index briefly crossed above 75 was in December 2024.
