ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the activity of several mainstream public chains has significantly declined compared to the peak in 2021, indicating that the current altcoin market is still in a speculative phase. The total market capitalization of altcoins, excluding the top ten cryptocurrencies, is currently $277 billion, down 77% from the peak of $492 billion in November 2021.Nansen analyst Nicolai Sondergaard pointed out that the altcoin market may be delayed due to meme coins attracting a lot of investor attention and funds. "The altcoin season will still come, but it may take a different form than before. There are currently more tokens and greater decentralization; while most are rising, specific sectors and tokens will see much larger increases than the rest."Redstone co-founder Marcin Kazmierczak added that some altcoin prices are rising, but the number of active addresses has not increased, indicating that we are still in a speculative phase and have not yet entered a phase of widespread adoption.

ChainCatcher message, according to SoSoValue data, the encrypted market sector has mostly seen slight pullbacks, while the PayFi sector has risen against the trend by 2.96%, and Hyperliquid remains strong. Within the PayFi sector, the leading project XRP has increased by 3.38% in the last 24 hours, Litecoin (LTC) has risen by 2.54%, and Telcoin (TEL) has surged by 13.22%. The Hyperliquid ecosystem has grown by 3.70%, and the HYPE native token has increased by 3.79%.In other sectors, the Meme sector has dropped by 1.06%, but OFFICIAL TRUMP (TRUMP) has risen against the trend by 3.79%; the DeFi sector has decreased by 1.87%, the Layer1 sector has fallen by 1.97%, the Layer2 sector has declined by 2.27%, and the CeFi sector has decreased by 4.13%. Among these, Binance coin (BNB) and Bitget token (BGB), which previously had higher gains, have dropped by 4.51% and 11.48%, respectively.

ChainCatcher news, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated that the progress of several cryptocurrency ETF applications in the market varies, describing that "most ETFs are still running to first base, while the Litecoin (LTC) ETF is nearing third base."This comment was made in response to a user's question about the approval timeline for crypto ETFs, indicating that the LTC ETF may be progressing the fastest among numerous applications, while other ETFs (such as XRP, SOL, DOGE, etc.) are still in the early review stages.Earlier this week, it was reported that analysts predicted the approval probabilities for LTC, DOGE, SOL, and XRP spot ETFs, with LTC reaching as high as 90%.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated in a report to clients on Wednesday that there is an interesting dichotomy between institutional and retail investors in the cryptocurrency space. On one hand, institutional investors have the most optimistic sentiment towards cryptocurrencies in history, while retail investors are sinking into despair. Investment professionals now view cryptocurrencies as a field where institutional capital is being allocated through ETFs at record amounts, and Washington has transformed from being one of the "biggest threats" to the industry to being one of the biggest supporters under the Trump administration, with nation-states potentially adopting the industry further.However, for retail investors, "it's almost like living in another reality," as Bitwise's own on-chain sentiment score shows one of the lowest readings ever. This index aligns with other sentiment indicators and the overall atmosphere of "crypto Twitter," where retail investors feel disheartened as their investments in altcoins have underperformed compared to Bitcoin, with only a few exceptions.Matt Hougan expressed his strong belief that institutions are correct, noting that so far this year, ETFs and corporations have purchased over 100,000 BTC, while the amount of BTC mined is 18,000. Moreover, in the long term, the allocation to altcoins is "stronger than at any time in history," but the situation for altcoins is more complex. As the regulatory agenda becomes clearer, the U.S. prioritizes stablecoins as a "national priority," and institutional confidence continues to grow, the crypto industry is bound to push DeFi applications to the mainstream, with impacts that are undeniable and unstoppable.

ChainCatcher news, Coinmarketcap data shows that the Altcoin Season Index is currently at 43.This index indicates that in the past 90 days, about 43 projects among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization have outperformed Bitcoin.

ChainCatcher news, according to Glassnode's on-chain data, Bitcoin's market capitalization reached a peak of $2.1 trillion on January 21, while altcoins (excluding Ethereum and stablecoins) peaked at $1.03 trillion on December 8 last year. Since then, Bitcoin's market capitalization has dropped by 8.2%, while altcoins' market capitalization has decreased by 29.8%, indicating a shift in capital preference.

ChainCatcher news, according to IntoTheBlock, the daily active address count for most altcoins is still far below the peak in 2021, indicating that retail traders have not yet returned to altcoins in large numbers.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Nasdaq Stock Market LLC has submitted a proposed rule change to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) aimed at listing and trading shares of the CoinShares XRP ETF and LTC ETF.

ChainCatcher news, Argentine economist and senior crypto trader Alex Krüger published an analysis stating that the current state of the crypto market is similar to May 2021 and May 2024, but still very different. Bitcoin is currently in a range-bound consolidation, but is expected to eventually break upwards. The supercycle theory remains valid; although the total market capitalization of the overall crypto market (excluding BTC and stablecoins) has significantly increased, most established altcoins struggle to sustain benefits, and one should not expect a long-term liquidity frenzy that boosts all projects.Regarding major assets, SOL has shown the strongest performance, but will face significant unlocking pressure in the next two months, and the tax season may trigger sell-offs in a month. Ethereum needs to regain momentum by enhancing the value capture of the L2 ecosystem and developing more killer applications.For the altcoin market, Krüger expects the next round of market activity to be shorter and smaller in scale than before. Although current market sentiment and positions are relatively pessimistic, it is difficult to predict specific timing in the absence of clear catalysts. He believes that when market participants generally feel angry or frustrated, it is actually a bullish signal.On a macro level, Krüger expects the impact of tariff policies to gradually weaken, and government efficiency improvements will become a focal point for the market. The Federal Reserve may lower interest rates in June, but later than the market expects, as it needs to confirm that tariffs will not have secondary effects. This will affect both short-term and long-term interest rates, driving up risk assets.He advises investors to remain optimistic while being patient, and not to go all-in to cope with two-way volatility; the current market environment is more suitable for active traders to participate.

ChainCatcher news, Alliance DAO co-founder Qiao Wang stated on his social platform that "perhaps we have already seen the cycle peak of most altcoins, but I believe that sometime this year BTC and a few quality altcoins will still have another significant rise."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, crypto analyst Martinez estimates that there are over 36 million existing altcoins, compared to fewer than 3,000 altcoins during the 2018 cycle, and fewer than 500 altcoins during the 2013-2014 period.According to data from CoinMarketCap, the total number of independent cryptocurrency tokens and coins listed on the platform is about to reach 11 million. The number of newly issued tokens surged during the period from 2024 to early 2025, mainly driven by meme coins issued on the Solana network.Previously, regarding the increasing number of tokens, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated, "Given that 1 million tokens are being created every week and still growing, Coinbase needs to rethink its listing process, as evaluating each token one by one is no longer feasible."

ChainCatcher news, CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju stated that currently only a few altcoins have a high correlation with Bitcoin.Among them, infrastructure tokens like ETH are performing weakly, while tokens related to institutional adoption, stablecoins, and memes are performing more actively.

ChainCatcher news, Placeholder partner Chris Burniske posted on social media that the pullback in this bull market is indeed different from previous ones. BTC has hardly dropped and may drop even more, while many altcoins are in deep trouble, with prices returning to bear market lows. But pain will trigger problems, and difficult problems will bring good answers and changes.It is expected that many altcoins with "protocol profitability" will begin to seek token buyback programs or other ways to return these funds to holders, as a resistance and distinction against Meme coins.

ChainCatcher news, according to an analysis by Glassnode co-founder Negentropic, during the recent market adjustment, the total market capitalization index of altcoins (Total 3) successfully held key support levels, with multiple altcoins showing signs of final sell-off.With Bitcoin's market cap reaching a 4-year high, the maintenance of the Total 3 index trend indicates that off-exchange funds are continuously accumulating, which may signal the altcoin market is about to enter a new round of upward momentum.

ChainCatcher news, according to crypto analyst Rekt Capital, Bitcoin's market cap dominance (BTC Dominance) needs to break 70% to potentially welcome a new altcoin season. Currently, Bitcoin's market cap dominance has risen to 64.3%, then fell back to 61%, but the overall trend is still upward.Analysis indicates that the altcoin season at the end of 2024 has already ended. Bitcoin has started to recover since it fell below 55% last December, and it has now risen by 6%. Historical data shows that 71% is a critical point for Bitcoin's market cap dominance. If BTC.D encounters resistance at this level, the market may welcome a new round of altcoin trends.

ChainCatcher message, CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn pointed out that while Bitcoin has only dropped by 7%, altcoins have shown a larger decline. It is recommended to keep the proportion of altcoin investments between 5-10% based on individual risk tolerance.Maartunn stated that the current strategy of many investors holding only altcoins without any Bitcoin will expose their portfolios to excessive volatility, while the volatility of Bitcoin itself is sufficient to generate substantial returns, especially compared to traditional financial markets.

ChainCatcher message, Binance will open trading bot services for the following trading pairs on February 6, 2025, at 16:00 (UTC+8): LTC/USDC, S/USDC, TRUMP/USDC.

ChainCatcher news, Grayscale has officially submitted the Litecoin (LTC) ETF 19b-4 application.