Bitcoin’s surge past the $100,000 price point marked a historic milestone for the leading cryptocurrency. However, as Bitcoin celebrated its record achievement, many prominent altcoins have already been outperforming it. The crypto community is long overdue for a proper altcoin season, and it will likely occur imminently in 2025.
The mainstream media has focused primarily on Bitcoin’s rise in the latter half of 2024. However, since the start of 2024, 20 out of the top 50 crypto assets by market cap have actually outpaced Bitcoin’s notable 124% gain. The rise in altcoin market caps and movement in the Altcoin Season Index all support this trend. Additionally, a report from CCData revealed that November’s trading volume reached its highest level of the year, with open interest hitting record-breaking levels. This suggests that investors are showing a stronger appetite for risk, a shift that often drives demand for altcoins due to their higher potential for outsized gains.
Beyond price action, investing in altcoins often means supporting the broader Web3 ecosystem and other blockchain-related ventures. The industry was heavily encouraged by the prospect of more favorable regulation in the wake of Trump’s U.S. presidential election victory. According to CryptoQuant, recent trading data indicates that altcoin trading volumes are not being driven by BTC pairs.
This means there is genuine market expansion instead of a simple shift in interest from Bitcoin to altcoins. Such momentum will come to a head in 2025, with bullish sentiment carried by the first pro-crypto U.S. president’s inauguration, altcoins will see a very good year and outperform Bitcoin.
What’s Driving Altcoin Interest
The altcoin rally that began in November seems to be a preview of a larger altcoin season anticipated for 2025. Emerging crypto trends and new technologies are likely to capture the attention of institutional investors and venture capitalists. And as more investor capital flows into the space, more innovative projects will likely pop up.
Based on on-chain data and broader market trends, several key narratives are expected to drive this next altcoin season. Innovations in Web3, layer-2 scaling solutions, and the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are likely to be major catalysts. Furthermore, advances in AI-integrated blockchain solutions and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization could introduce fresh momentum into the altcoin market.
Such trends suggest that 2025 will see a more sustained and widespread rally in altcoins. This period might also be characterized by more robust participation from institutional players, further legitimizing altcoins as viable investment vehicles.
Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Blockchain
Advancements in the convergence of AI and crypto technologies are set to play a significant role in shaping the future of the internet, and many of the newer trending altcoins are in this field. As AI agents gain the ability to interact with blockchain protocols, manage crypto wallets, and participate in decentralized finance (DeFi), the potential for autonomous, self-sustaining digital ecosystems grows.
The top AI platforms like OpenAI remain heavily centralized but have seen mainstream adoption, while blockchain technology offers a potential solution by decentralizing information and enhancing privacy protection yet its impact has been relatively limited. Beyond the crypto space, AI applications are making their way into traditional financial markets, introducing both opportunities and significant risks.
As AI-driven decision-making is becoming more accepted, projects like Bella Protocol’s AI Signal Bot are seeing great enthusiasm. The Bella Signal Bot leverages advanced machine learning models to deliver real-time, AI-powered trading signals that empower traders to make quick, well-informed decisions in the crypto markets. It supports over 15 different crypto trading pairs including the major network coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana as well as various altcoin categories like DeFi and memes. The fact that the AI-driven signal bot has already accumulated over 3,000 subscribers in less than 3 months after launch demonstrates the fervor that retail investors have for trading in current market conditions. As trading tools like the Bella Signal Bot continuously improve, they help to level the playing field for normal users in comparison to algorithmic traders and institutions, which can further explain the overall growth in enthusiasm towards altcoins in general.
Resurgence of DeFi, Scaling Projects, and Alternative Layer 1s
Altcoin season seems like it’s been partly driven by the revitalization of certain legacy projects that have bounced back significantly in recent months. For example, decentralized finance (DeFi) has returned to the spotlight with the Trump administration’s seeming support of utility tokens. Indeed, Trump’s World Liberty Financial project was recently tracked on-chain to be investing into DeFi mainstays like Ethereum, Chainlink, and AAVE. As the leading oracle in the entire crypto industry, Chainlink is responsible for enhancing smart contract performance by connecting with real-world data to perform off-chain computations. Such a use case is essential in DeFi if the field eventually aims to tokenize real world assets and integrate traditional finance, because accurate real-world data is paramount. The project’s native token LINK saw over a 120% rise in the past month, and it’s one of the assets supported by Bella Signal Bot.
Another significant narrative gaining traction is composed of Ethereum layer 2 scaling projects. By using optimistic rollups to process transactions in batches, protocols like Arbitrum and Optimism substantially increase the throughput of the Ethereum network while reducing network fees by orders of magnitude. Both ARB and OP are popular trading pairs that users of the Bella Signal Bot subscribe to, and these traders have been greatly rewarded due to both tokens’ recent strong performance.
Alternative layer 1 projects like Solana, Ripple, and Near Protocol are also riding high. Ripple especially has been on a tear and reached near all-time highs not seen since 2018. As interest in blockchain networks revive, layer 1 base networks will always get a second look because they could provide a scalable and functional alternative to established ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bella Protocol has kept up with all these trends during the bull cycle, and its AI Signal Bot already supports perpetual trading pairs for SOL, XRP, BNB, and NEAR. It recently added support for APT (Aptos) and will imminently support Sui Network (SUI) as well, because such projects have seen renewed interest and been requested by the Bella community.
Memes, Gaming, and a Potent Future for Alts
Perhaps the most crypto-native category of projects in Web3 is the meme coin, because they thrive off of internet community support with little regard of convincing investors of their utility. In a way that’s counterintuitive to most traditional investors, meme coins have actually performed extraordinarily well in 2024 and many credit them for keeping the markets afloat prior to the bullish surge in November 2024. Legacy memes like DOGE and SHIB have seen growth and newer ones launched on Solana such as WIF, GOAT, and PNUT represent a new “meta” within the memecoin sector. The Bella Signal Bot also gives its users exposure to top meme coins, as it added support for PEPE in early December 2024. PEPE is one of the best performing tokens in the entire cryptosphere for the year, as it shot up over 1,500% since the year began.
Bella Protocol covers all its bases, including the blockchain gaming vertical. Its Signal Bot can deliver trading guidance for IMX/USDT as well. The project Immutable X is an end-to-end solution for crypto game developers and powered by zero-knowledge rollup technology for immense scalability.
In 2025, the emergence of new market narratives is expected, with venture capital activity serving as a key indicator of the most promising trends. Projections suggest that VC activity in Web3 could rebound to match or exceed the levels seen in 2021 ($25.3 billion) and 2022 ($29.4 billion). This resurgence is likely to channel funding into specific projects and broader industry categories, potentially shaping the next phase of growth in the crypto sector.
Alt Season 2025 Incoming
Already AI agent based altcoins are skyrocketing in the new year, and with Trump’s pro-business, pro-technology stance on regulation the entire crypto sector will be elevated. The new president is one who wants to make a grand entrance with significant, news-worthy changes. Therefore, it’s more likely than not that he will pass pro-crypto regulation right off the bat this year instead of waiting until 2026 or later.
Further evidence of an impending alt season comes from historical crypto market data. The standard 4-year cycle typically sees Bitcoin leading the way with record-breaking gains, then major altcoins such as Ethereum lagging behind to achieve their pumps several months later. This occurred during the previous cycle in 2021, in which BTC was already at an all-time high by the beginning of the year whereas Ethereum and many other alts saw rapid gains from March to April 2021. Not every cycle will play out the exact same way, but with Trump entering office and strong momentum on breakthrough narratives such as AI agents, memecoins, and renewed interest in DeFi, alt coins will certainly see their day in the sun this year in 2025.
