Over a third of tracked altcoins now sit near cycle lows despite a broader market stabilization.
Summary
- CryptoQuant data shows 38% of altcoins are trading close to all-time lows, a deeper drawdown than during the post-FTX unwinding phase.
- Analyst Darkfost describes this as the “largest regression of altcoins observed during this cycle,” highlighting persistent structural pressure on non-BTC assets.
- While BTC holds near recent highs, dispersion between majors and smaller caps has widened, with altcoin underperformance pointing to weak liquidity and selective risk appetite.
On-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant reports that 38% of altcoins are currently trading close to their all-time lows, marking a more severe retracement than the period following the collapse of FTX. The metric, highlighted by analyst Darkfost, is designed to capture how many alternative tokens remain under sustained selling pressure, even as the broader market shows signs of stabilization.
In a note summarized on social media, Darkfost describes this as the largest regression in altcoins observed so far in the current cycle, underscoring how uneven the recovery has been between blue-chip assets and the long tail of speculative tokens.
Market participants commenting on the data pointed out that, unlike the post-FTX phase—when forced liquidations and distressed selling drove prices lower—the current environment features relatively fewer obvious forced sellers. Instead, altcoin weakness appears to be driven by a mix of low liquidity, tighter risk budgets, and a rotation into more established names such as BTC and ETH, which have captured the bulk of inflows into spot markets and regulated products. One observer noted that in the FTX aftermath, once the main overhang cleared, many assets staged at least a reflexive bounce, whereas now a significant share of altcoins remains pinned near their lows despite occasional rallies in majors.investing+2
Dispersion and liquidity stress
The divergence described by CryptoQuant has important implications for portfolio construction and risk management across digital assets. Rising dispersion—where some segments of the market trend higher while others grind lower—tends to increase both opportunity and risk, particularly for funds attempting to rotate between themes or capture relative value. With a large share of altcoins near ATL, liquidity in many order books has thinned, raising the impact cost of entering or exiting positions and increasing the potential for sharp, “Bart-style” intraday moves noted by traders.
At the same time, the data suggests a growing concentration of market interest in a smaller set of higher-quality or more narrative-driven assets, including BTC, ETH, and ecosystems such as SOL that continue to see comparatively stronger developer and user activity. Centralized venues like Coinbase have also funneled more volume into a limited basket of listed tokens, further amplifying the relative underperformance of smaller caps that lack deep markets or institutional access. In Europe, evolving regulatory frameworks like MiCA may reinforce this concentration by encouraging platforms to prioritize assets with clearer compliance and disclosure profiles, potentially leaving many fringe altcoins structurally disadvantaged even if broader crypto sentiment improves.
