Bitcoin’s price crash from $126K to $89K has shocked the entire market, and its dominance dropping under 60% has added more pressure.
While many traders are worried, Veteran trader Michael van de Poppe sees something positive happening. He says Bitcoin’s current dominance looks almost exactly like 2019, right before altcoins began to rally.
Is this the start of a new altcoin season?
According to Van de Poppe’s 1-week Bitcoin dominance chart adds an important visual clue to the current market mood.
His chart shows that Bitcoin dominance is now following a pattern very similar to what happened in 2019, when dominance hit a key resistance level, failed to break higher, and then began falling.
In the weekly chart, Bitcoin dominance appears to have been rejected at the 20-week moving average, just like in the previous cycles.
Meanwhile, Van de Poppe explains that this kind of rejection often appears near market bottoms, not market tops. And historically, this is exactly when altcoins start to outperform Bitcoin.
Backing his view, Van de Poppe points to past cycles where the same pattern played out, in 2016–2017, again in 2019–2020, and later in 2021. Each time, Bitcoin cooled down, its dominance slipped, and altcoins began to run ahead.
His current chart shows a nearly identical setup, hinting that the market may be getting ready for another similar shift, with altcoins potentially taking the lead once more.
Adding to the bullish outlook, crypto analyst Matthew Hyland notes that Bitcoin’s dominance is weakening. He argues that this drop could open the door for a strong altcoin season soon.
According to him, after nearly four years of waiting, the moment for mid-cap and low-cap altcoins to take the lead may finally be here.
Interestingly, while Bitcoin & its dominance dropped, its social activity spiked to a four-month high. This usually happens when retail traders panic and flood social media with fear and emotional reactions.
These spikes often appear near turning points, when the market is extremely negative but quietly preparing for relief.
