The crypto market is likely moving into “Phase 2” of the bull run, where capital starts shifting from Bitcoin into altcoins, according to crypto VC giant Pantera Capital.
Coinbase’s Monthly Outlook backs this up, suggesting that conditions are aligning for a full-scale altcoin rally, potentially beginning as early as September.
With $BTC dominance falling below 60%, the altcoin market cap surging past $1.5T, and Google Trends showing retail interest in altcoins near 2018 highs, all signs point to a reshuffling.
And presale trends offer a clear sign of where the capital is heading. Retail investors are now hunting for the best altcoins to buy ahead of the wave.
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER), an upcoming Bitcoin Layer-2 built using SVM, just smashed through $10.5M in token presale, while Best Wallet Token ($BEST) is on its way to $15M.
Pantera Capital’s recent blog post highlights a key structural shift unfolding in the crypto market.
Altcoins have historically taken the lead in the second phase of each crypto bull cycle. In both the 2015-2018 and 2018-2021 cycles, Bitcoin led early and altcoins took over later.
Caption: Bitcoin vs. Altcoin growth across bull cycles, excluding stablecoins. (Source: Pantera Capital)
In the current 2022-2025 cycle, Bitcoin has again led the first phase, but altcoins have yet to catch up.
‘During the 2015-2018 cycle, alts accounted for 66% of the total growth in crypto market capitalization. In the 2018-2021 cycle, they contributed 55%. So far this cycle, alts represent 35% of total market growth,’ says the article.
Multiple signs suggest this may change soon, though, especially with crypto regulation coming into clearer focus – a stark difference from the crypto climate in the past bull cycles.
Caption: Altcoins dominated later stages in past cycles, but current market share remains below previous highs. (Source: Pantera Capital)
Pantera Capital highlighted recent US legislation as a major factor behind the possible shift.
The GENIUS Act paves the way for regulated stablecoins, while the CLARITY Act is designed to define the line between digital commodities and securities.
David Duong, head of research at Coinbase Institutional, also points to signs of an alt season already forming this quarter.
Although the Altcoin Season Index remains below the typical 75% mark, Duong mentions that the altcoin market cap has climbed rapidly since early July.
‘[…] current market conditions now suggest a potential shift towards a full-scale altcoin season as we approach September,’ he notes in the Coinbase Monthly Outlook.
According to the same market analysis, Bitcoin’s dominance has declined from 65% in May 2025 to ~59% by August 2025, which points to early stages of capital rotation into altcoins.
Retail investors are clearly peeking over the fence, with Google searches for “altcoins” at their highest since January 2018. It may not be full-on mania yet, but the market’s warming up fast.
A possible Fed rate cut in September could be the final trigger. Over $7T sits in US money market funds, and even a small shift into risk assets could light the match for the next alt-season.
In other words, the coming days present a rare window to buy into promising altcoins before they surge. Presales and low-cap tokens, in particular, tend to move first in the early stages of an alt season, especially when there’s a clear narrative behind them.
But in a crowded market, it’s hard to unearth the gems. To give you a head start in your hunt, here are our top picks for the best altcoins to buy early, featuring a mix of established and emerging cryptos.
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is a new Layer-2 (L2) that brings smart contracts to the Bitcoin ecosystem using the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM). The serious tech leap aims to solve Bitcoin’s three biggest bottlenecks:
And here is how it works: A canonical bridge lets you mint wrapped $BTC cross-chain. You can then freely use your $BTC on the Hyper network to interact with Solana-like smart contracts for various DeFi use cases, from lending to GameFi and NFT bidding.
Note that Bitcoin Hyper isn’t backed by a vague roadmap. The L2 devnet is already live, and the team has confirmed full support for Solana program deploys, contract calls, logs, and configs.
The team has been keeping true to its roadmap so far, so it comes as no surprise that its native token, $HYPER, has already raised $10.5M+ in its ongoing presale.
During the presale phase, altcoin investors can support the project and grab the token at pre-market prices. Currently, $HYPER is priced at $0.012755, with the next surge just one day away.
Participants can also stake $HYPER for attractive, dynamic staking returns, which sit at 104% at the time of this writing.
Visit the Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) presale for more.
Best Wallet Token ($BEST), a utility token for the Best Wallet ecosystem, enjoys not just good timing, but also visibility within an emerging market niche.
As Google tightens its policies on custodial crypto apps, noncustodial wallets like Best Wallet are growing more popular than ever.
Starting this year, custodial wallet apps will require region-specific licences to remain on the Play Store, a move that threatens the visibility of many well-known wallets. Best Wallet, built on a noncustodial model, is unaffected and well-positioned to thrive in this new environment.
And its native token, $BEST, is already getting a lot of presale attention as the wallet’s ecosystem expands to add more Web3 features.
Already available on both Android and iOS, the Best Wallet app has built a user base of over 250,000 users in a short time, and Best Wallet Token ($BEST) presale is close to hitting the $15M mark now.
Becoming a token holder would mean not only fueling the project’s extensive roadmap, but also securing governance rights and higher staking rewards within the app’s upcoming staking aggregator.
Right now, the Best Wallet app is working to expand its support to over 60+ chains and introduce advanced anti-fraud protection for retail traders. Phases 3 and 4 of the roadmap include the launch of a crypto debit card, NFT integrations, and advanced derivative trading.
In other words, Best Wallet isn’t just providing a secure, self-custodial solution. It bridges DeFi, centralized finance, and retail utility within one highly competitive solution.
Visit the Best Wallet ($BEST) presale to learn more.
$LDO is the native token of Lido DAO, the decentralised autonomous organisation behind the popular Ethereum liquid staking protocol. $LDO holds a central role in Ethereum’s post-Merge design.
As demand for Ethereum and real-world assets grows, $LDO could attract more interest from both retail and larger investors looking for exposure to staked $ETH.
Pantera sees Ethereum as one of the main winners of the coming alt season, with most real-world assets now moving onto its network.
BlackRock’s $BUIDL and WisdomTree’s $WTGXX are both live on Ethereum, Robinhood’s stock tokens are based on Ethereum Layer-2 Arbitrum, and over 50% of stablecoin volume is routed through the Ethereum blockchain.
$LDO’s close link to $ETH and its strong performance in past bull runs make it one of the best altcoins to watch when the alt season picks up.
See Lido DAO ($LDO)’s price over time.
Alt seasons reward early positioning, not just in top ten heavyweights, but also in underrated crypto gems backed by the right narratives. $LDO is such an example, now available for purchase on most popular crypto exchanges.
As for pre-market opportunities, $HYPER and $BEST each offer attractive incentives and utility within blockchain upscaling and Web3. These tokens are now selling for low prices in their presales before exchange listings. Dynamic passive income also awaits early birds.
