According to crypto market data, Bitcoin’s dominance on the overall market cap is down 7% to 55%, with rival crypto assets and altcoins closing in. The decline in BTC dominance opens the door for altcoins in particular to climb in value, as long as traders are active. The indicator serves as a key indicator of whether investors are favoring Bitcoin or seeking higher-risk, higher-reward opportunities in altcoins. Hence, this 700 basis point decline from the cycle peak is an encouraging setup for altcoins heading into the fourth quarter.
In addition, several altcoins are bringing critical token unlocks this month, along with hard fork schedule implementations, including ONDO, CFX, and IMX. These September crypto events point to how technical developments are still having an impact on single altcoins September 2025 performance amidst the bigger market uncertainties. The implementation of the hard fork schedule, significant announcements, and unlocks of the crypto tokens will decide whether these assets will continue their current trajectories or not.
Furthermore, Ethereum and Solana are showing early signs of renewed interest as institutional and retail capital begin to rotate into alternative assets. Ethereum was already outperforming BTC in the past month, and the weakening Bitcoin dominance level could open the door further for ETH and other coins.
Per The Block, a critical factor to monitor will be whether altcoins can capture genuine spot market demand, rather than primarily benefiting from derivatives-driven momentum. With substantial institutional capital potentially flowing into digital asset treasuries and ETF products, the question remains whether this buying power will translate into direct token purchases that drive sustainable price appreciation.
Despite the dominance concerns, Bitcoin is still on a bullish wave, and could pick back up in price soon. According to CoinCodex BTC analysis, Bitcoin will enter another bullish phase by the end of this year. The platform anticipates the asset to climb to a new all-time high of $127,419 on Dec. 2. Hitting $127,419 from current price levels will entail a rally of about 14.8%.