Key Takeaways
- While Bitcoin has now comfortably surpassed its 2021 all-time-high, few altcoins are in the same boat.
- Binance founder CZ is confident that “a small number of strong coins” have their brightest days ahead.
- In CZ’s view, Bitcoin’s strong performance this cycle has been driven by institutional demand.
- There are early signs that large institutions are also warming to assets like ETH and SOL.
Bitcoin has repeatedly broken through its previous price ceiling since reaching a new all-time high (ATH) in March 2024. But the same can’t be said for many altcoins, some of which still trade below their peak in 2021.
The failure of many altcoins to attain new heights this cycle raises the prospect that they may never do so.
Turning his attention to this looming reality in an X post on Monday, June 23, CZ predicted that only “a small number of strong coins” would make it.
Top Trending Crypto Articles
The Decline of Altcoin Season
Altcoin season is often defined as a period in which 75% of the top 50 coins performed better than Bitcoin over the preceding 90 days.
According to this definition, a proper altcoin season has occurred just once in the past year, for less than a week in early December.
This contrasts with the 2021 cycle, when a prolonged altcoin season lasted throughout the spring, and coins like DOGE and BNB significantly outpaced BTC.
By now, it is clear that 2025 isn’t like 2021.
Major tokens like ETH and ADA still haven’t set new all-time highs this cycle. Even altcoins that have surpassed their 2021 highs have typically done so less spectacularly than Bitcoin.
For example, SOL and BNB both claimed new ground over winter, but are now back below their high points from four years ago.
CZ Still Cautiously Optimistic
Commenting on the state of the crypto market, CZ remarked that “everything before the next ATH is a dip.” But he questioned: “Will there be a next ATH?”
CZ’s answer is yes, but only for “a small number of strong coins” that have “long-term staying power and growth potential.”
Institutional Interest
One argument for why Bitcoin has performed so well compared to other cryptocurrencies since 2024 is that its price has been boosted by institutional demand.
Since being greenlit in the U.S., a handful of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have snapped up over $130 billion worth of BTC.
Demand from corporate treasuries has also ballooned and continues to grow as more companies embrace BTC as a strategic reserve asset.
While this institutional money has initially flooded the Bitcoin market, CZ predicted that it would eventually flow into other cryptocurrencies too.
“Historically, what we have seen is that what’s good for Bitcoin is good for altcoins,” he noted.
The first signs that this is starting to happen have already appeared.
Various asset managers have filed applications for ETFs that hold Solana, Dogecoin, Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, recent acquisitions by SharpLink and MemeStrategy position ETH and SOL as alternatives to Bitcoin for crypto treasury reserves.
As institutional interest in altcoins rises, it could boost the most popular assets to new ATH prices. Strong contenders include ETH, SOL and XRP. But as CZ warned, the rest may never recover their former glory.
Top Trending Crypto Articles
Was this Article helpful?
#Hints #Strong #Coins #Survive #ATH