QCP Capital, a leading trading firm operating in the crypto markets, announced in its weekly market report published today that a new “altcoin season” may have begun.
The company highlighted that various altcoin season indicators surpassed the 50 level, reaching the highest level since December 2024, and open interest in ETH perpetual futures increased from $180 billion to $280 billion in a week.
According to QCP Capital, the most striking feature of this cycle is that institutional investors, rather than individual investors, are leading the charge. This interest stems primarily from the clarification of stablecoin regulations following the passage of the “GENIUS Act” in the US.
Companies have begun incorporating layer-one (L1) blockchain assets like ETH, SOL, XRP, and ADA into their financial balance sheets. This strategy resembles the previous adoption of Bitcoin as a financial reserve asset by institutions like MicroStrategy and Metaplanet.
The report also notes that investment in ETH could increase further if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approves ETH staking-supporting spot ETFs in the coming months. Such a development could lead some funds to shift from BTC ETFs to ETH ETFs.
Indeed, last week, daily net inflows into ETH spot ETFs outpaced those of BTC spot ETFs for two consecutive days, indicating rapidly growing interest in Ethereum from institutional investors. BlackRock is also reportedly optimistic about its ETH staking ETF.
QCP also stated that September and December bullish futures strategies (bull call spreads) were actively opened in the Ethereum options market, reflecting optimistic expectations in the market for the fourth quarter of 2025.
Finally, BTC’s overall market dominance decreased from 64% to 60%, while ETH’s market share increased from 9.7% to 11.6%. QCP noted that if these trends continue, the altcoin season will strengthen further and market momentum could shift to newer tokens.
The company stated that it will continue to monitor the market closely and will quickly convey developments to investors.
