There was no altseason during the last bull market, and most of them have collapsed during the bear market. Is the era of altcoins over?

Altcoins are arguably the segment that has suffered the most throughout this bear market, said CryptoQuant analyst ‘Darkfost’ on Tuesday.

84% of altcoins are trading below their 200-day moving average and are in a “state of total underperformance,” he added.

“Every attempt at a momentum recovery has failed outright,” he said, adding that the altcoin market capitalization (excluding ETH) continues to slide, with a weekly close below the 200 DMA now confirmed.

Altcoin Apocalypse

This is not new, as altcoins have been battered for the past eight months and have the second-longest underperformance streak since 2020.

The analyst described it as a “prolonged period of stagnation across the majority of altcoins, one that is pushing investors to their limits.”

He ended on a bullish note, stating that such periods have “historically also presented medium-term opportunities,” but identifying them “demands significantly more rigorous asset selection” than in previous cycles.

🔴 84% of Altcoins are trading below their 200-DMA

Altcoins are arguably the segment that has suffered most throughout this bear market.

Every attempt at a momentum recovery has failed outright, and the Total 3, which tracks altcoin market capitalization excluding ETH,… pic.twitter.com/Umz8ONIZQu

— Darkfost (@Darkfost_Coc) June 29, 2026

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The broader crypto market is down around 51% from its peak in terms of capitalization, which is currently $2.15 trillion.

However, high-cap altcoins such as BNB, XRP, and Solana are down between 60% and 75% from their peaks. The majority of the lower-cap altcoins are down between 80% and 90% from their all-time highs.

Nevertheless, the top three altcoin season indexes show between 48 and 51 out of 100, which is neutral.

Permabull analyst ‘Sykodelic’ was bullish as usual, stating, “things are shaping up very well for altcoins.”

“I know that is very hard to believe after the soul-destroying performance of alts over the last few years, but things really are looking very constructive here,” he said on Monday.

This was backed up by technical analysts showing that, for the first time in over two years, the 1-week MACD has entered positive territory, “with the chart forming a strong bottom position,” mirroring the 2020 cycle bottom.

Crypto Market Outlook

A few altcoins have made marginal gains today, including Solana, Hyperliquid, and Zcash, but most remain at bear-market bottoms.

Bitcoin reclaimed $60,000, but it didn’t last, falling back below that psychological level during the Tuesday morning Asian trading session.

Meanwhile, Ether reclaimed $1,600 after Bitmine’s latest purchase, but it only lasted a few hours, with the asset falling back to $1,590 at the time of writing.