Altcoin markets are showing early signs of a possible new season, but the latest rally is not spreading evenly across the market. Traders are rotating into a mix of revenue-generating protocols, privacy projects, artificial-intelligence tokens, memecoin launchpads and tokenized assets, according to reporting by Cointelegraph.
Several tokens have posted sharp gains over the past month. Memecoin launchpad PONS rose more than 350%, while Uniswap’s UNI advanced by more than 110%, Arbitrum’s ARB gained over 150% and NEAR, which is associated with artificial-intelligence applications, climbed about 180%. Privacy token Zcash also reached a record above $1,600 last week.
Bitcoin Layer-2 token LIT and memecoin launchpad token PUMP were among the other notable performers identified by CoinMarketCap data. The range of sectors represented by the winners makes it difficult to describe the move as a single, uniform trade. Instead, the gains suggest that traders are choosing individual projects and narratives rather than buying altcoins indiscriminately.
A possible altseason, but not yet an official one
The market has not formally entered “Altcoin Season” according to CoinMarketCap’s index. The gauge stood at 64 out of 100, up from 48 the previous week, but below the score of 75 used to identify an official altseason.
The distribution of market value also indicates that the rally remains concentrated. Data from trading firm Talos shows that the 10 largest altcoins account for about 80% of total altcoin market capitalization, compared with approximately 70% at the end of 2024.
Samar Sen, Talos’ head of international markets, said the firm’s data points to capital clustering in a relatively small group of assets instead of moving broadly across the market’s longer tail. Talos’ September flow data showed strong buying on almost every day, a contrast with late 2024, when buying and selling were more evenly balanced and a post-election rally produced wider gains in tokens such as DOGE, ADA and HBAR.
The current pattern is also more cautious at the individual-wallet level. Sergej Kunz, co-founder of 1inch, said more wallets are purchasing a wider range of tokens, but generally in smaller amounts. He described the pattern as “breadth before depth,” with users participating selectively rather than committing heavily to one broad market trade.
Where traders are concentrating capital
Revenue-generating protocols are central to the argument that this rally could be more focused on utility than earlier speculative cycles. Bankless podcast host David Hoffman pointed to ARB, UNI, Jupiter’s JUP and Ondo’s ONDO, saying they share the characteristic of generating revenue.
Talos identified strong performance in themes including revenue-producing protocols, onchain perpetuals and decentralized-finance projects. HYPE, LIT, UNI and MORPHO were among the tokens associated with those areas. Privacy-related assets including ZEC, NEAR and XMR have also performed strongly, while artificial-intelligence-linked tokens such as VVV and TAO have attracted attention.
Memecoins have not disappeared. Talos reported activity around launchpads including PUMP and PONS, and the Robinhood ecosystem and USELESS memecoin were also performing well. Kunz said memecoins had recorded the strongest growth among buyers over the previous 30 days, even as DeFi, privacy, AI and tokenized-asset projects gained attention.
The boundaries between these categories are becoming less distinct. Earlier in September, unconventional trading pairs on Robinhood included combinations such as BONER/HIMS and SPACEHOOD/SPCX, bringing tokenized stocks and memecoins into the same trading environment. One such pairing generated more than $425 million in 24-hour volume in early September.
Tokenized gold and tokenized stocks are seeing more buyers as well. AI tokens are also rising, although the source material notes that their gains are coming from a relatively small base. Together, these developments suggest a market driven by competing narratives rather than a complete migration from speculation to fundamentals.
Why utility may matter more this cycle
Michael Egorov, founder of Curve Finance and Yield Basis, said he is seeing greater interest in practical use cases and institutional demand than in previous cycles. He highlighted stablecoins, including their use in onchain foreign exchange and fintech applications, as one example of crypto infrastructure connecting with real-world financial activity.
That connection could provide a different source of demand if it continues to grow. However, whether it becomes a lasting driver of the broader altcoin market remains uncertain. The current gains include both projects associated with utility and highly speculative assets, so the evidence does not yet establish a single dominant investment rationale.
Who is driving the move?
Talos data shows that dealer participation in altcoin trading fell from about 65% at the end of 2024 to roughly 32% in September. The decline occurred while flows maintained a strong buying bias, suggesting that liquidity providers and market makers have played a smaller role in the current move than in the previous altcoin rally.
At the same time, access to crypto exposure has broadened. Assets that previously required users to interact directly with decentralized exchanges such as Raydium or Orca are increasingly available through mainstream platforms, lowering the barriers for retail participation.
Professional traders also have more ways to track activity, including wallet monitoring and copy-trading tools that can indicate where capital is moving across wallets, protocols and blockchains. The result is a combination of easier access for retail users and more sophisticated methods for professionals to identify emerging activity.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data at the stated times shows mixed performance among the listed assets:
- Cronos (CRO): $0.0649701295, up 2.95% over 24 hours and 8.43% over seven days, as of September 25, 2026, 22:03 +03:30.
- Cap (CAP): $0.0512392543, up 0.94% over 24 hours but down 5.53% over seven days, as of September 25, 2026, 22:03 +03:30.
- ECOMI (OMI): $0.0002317622, up 6.99% over 24 hours and 14.34% over seven days, as of September 25, 2026, 22:03 +03:30.
- ONEchain (ONE): $0.1452523174, down 4.60% over 24 hours but up 7.69% over seven days, as of September 25, 2026, 22:04 +03:30.
The broader altcoin picture therefore remains selective: strong gains are appearing across several themes, but the market has not yet demonstrated the broad, synchronized participation associated with a confirmed altseason.
