Altcoin season index
How many of the 50 most traded altcoins on Binance beat bitcoin over the last 90 days. 75 or more is called altcoin season, 25 or less bitcoin season. Updated daily.
21 Oct 2026 (daily close): index 70 - 35 of 50 altcoins beat bitcoin's +29.2% over 90 days. Neither. Last altcoin season day: 03 Oct 2025. Since 01 Nov 2019 the index spent 10% of days in altcoin season and 21% in bitcoin season.
Today's top 50 vs bitcoin (90 days)
| # | Coin | 90-day return | Beat BTC? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MUBARAK | +450.3% | yes |
| 2 | QNT | +221.3% | yes |
| 3 | PUMP | +180.4% | yes |
| 4 | NEAR | +179.3% | yes |
| 5 | ZEC | +160.6% | yes |
| 6 | ZRO | +146.3% | yes |
| 7 | ENA | +140.8% | yes |
| 8 | ARB | +118.2% | yes |
| 9 | STRK | +99.5% | yes |
| 10 | UNI | +98.4% | yes |
| 11 | VTHO | +88.1% | yes |
| 12 | TIA | +72.1% | yes |
| 13 | INJ | +66.5% | yes |
| 14 | PEPE | +65.9% | yes |
| 15 | AAVE | +63.1% | yes |
| 16 | MSTRB | +61.0% | yes |
| 17 | DASH | +57.2% | yes |
| 18 | AVAX | +54.1% | yes |
| 19 | WLD | +53.2% | yes |
| 20 | LINK | +47.6% | yes |
| 21 | FIL | +44.7% | yes |
| 22 | CRCLB | +42.0% | yes |
| 23 | SOL | +41.0% | yes |
| 24 | TAO | +41.0% | yes |
| 25 | DOT | +40.4% | yes |
| 26 | SUI | +38.3% | yes |
| 27 | BCH | +35.2% | yes |
| 28 | SPCXB | +34.9% | yes |
| 29 | ICP | +34.0% | yes |
| 30 | ADA | +33.6% | yes |
| 31 | PENGU | +33.6% | yes |
| 32 | APT | +32.8% | yes |
| 33 | ETH | +31.7% | yes |
| 34 | BNB | +31.5% | yes |
| 35 | LTC | +31.1% | yes |
| 36 | FET | +28.2% | no |
| 37 | SAND | +25.6% | no |
| 38 | XRP | +23.3% | no |
| 39 | DOGE | +18.5% | no |
| 40 | HBAR | +18.0% | no |
| 41 | TRUMP | +15.6% | no |
| 42 | ASTER | +15.5% | no |
| 43 | ONDO | +14.7% | no |
| 44 | BABY | +7.1% | no |
| 45 | XPL | +1.0% | no |
| 46 | XLM | +0.8% | no |
| 47 | TRX | +0.6% | no |
| 48 | MOVR | -4.3% | no |
| 49 | GRAM | -7.1% | no |
| 50 | SNDKB | -16.4% | no |
Does altcoin season predict altcoin gains? No edge
We wrote the rules down before loading the data. At every month-end from November 2019 to August 2026 (82 months) we took the same top 50 altcoins in equal weights and compared their next-month return with bitcoin's, after 0.2% costs. Delisted coins count at their last price.
| After a month-end reading of | Months | Altcoins beat BTC next month | Average vs BTC | p (chance) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altcoin season (75+) | 8 | 3 of 8 | +2.3% | 0.24 |
| Bitcoin season (25 or less) | 21 | 8 of 21 | -1.8% | 0.52 |
| Any month | 82 | 38% | -1.8% |
The positive average after altcoin season comes from two months - July 2020 (+42%) and March 2021 (+32%); the three most recent readings (August 2022, December 2023, January 2024) were all followed by altcoins losing to bitcoin. The steadier fact in this sample is different: the top 50 altcoins as a group lagged bitcoin in 62% of months. Rules and limits: test #5 in research; the index has existed in this form only since late 2019, when Binance first listed enough altcoins against USDT.
How it is calculated
- Every day, take all USDT pairs on Binance spot, including delisted ones for past dates. Exclude bitcoin, stablecoins and fiat, wrapped coins and gold tokens, and leveraged tokens.
- Keep coins with a full 90 days of history; pick the 50 with the highest USDT volume over the last 30 days.
- Index = share of those 50 whose 90-day return beats BTCUSDT's 90-day return, times 100.
Popular versions rank the top 50 by market cap instead of trading volume, so the numbers differ somewhat. Ours is fully reproducible from Binance's public data.
FAQ
What is altcoin season?
A period when most large altcoins rise faster than bitcoin. By the usual definition, when at least 75% of the top 50 altcoins beat bitcoin over 90 days.
Does the index predict where altcoins go next?
Not in our test. In 82 months (2019-2026) the index reached altcoin season in 8; in the month after, altcoins beat bitcoin only 3 times, and the result was not distinguishable from chance (p = 0.24). Bitcoin season did not predict either (p = 0.52).