Altcoin Season Signals Strengthen as Institutional Flows Accelerate

According to QCP Capital’s latest report, altcoin season may have finally arrived.

With altseason indexes across major platforms pushing above the 50 mark—the highest since December 2024—on-chain and derivatives data are now signaling a notable shift. Ethereum appears to be leading the charge, not just among retail investors but increasingly through institutional flows.

ETH open interest and ETF flows point to institutional demand

Total ETH perpetual open interest has surged from under $18 billion to over $28 billion in just one week. This dramatic spike is not just retail-driven; institutions are actively positioning ahead of what could be a structural transition in the crypto investment landscape. One major driver: the newly signed GENIUS Act, which brings regulatory clarity to stablecoin issuance. As a result, Ethereum and other L1s that support stablecoin ecosystems—such as Solana, XRP, and Cardano—are attracting fresh attention from corporate treasuries seeking long-term digital reserves.

According to the v the trend may accelerate if the SEC approves a staked spot ETH ETF. Last week, ETH ETF inflows surpassed BTC’s for two straight days, signaling strong conviction from BlackRock and others anticipating regulatory approval. Such a move would incentivize institutions to rotate from BTC into ETH, attracted by its native yield-generating potential through staking.

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Options data and dominance shifts favor Ethereum

In the derivatives market, ETH call options are seeing strong demand across all tenors. Notably, large bullish structures such as the ETH-26SEP25-3400/3800 and ETH-26DEC25-3500/4500 call spreads have been placed, showing investor confidence in Ethereum’s upside—particularly heading into Q4.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin dominance has dropped from 64% to 60% over the past week as BTC struggles to reclaim the $121,000 level. Ethereum’s market share has climbed from 9.7% to 11.6% over the same period. If this trend continues, it could mark the beginning of a broad-based altcoin season, with ETH leading the next leg higher.

Kosta Gushterov

Kosta has been working in the crypto industry for over 4 years. He strives to present different perspectives on a given topic and enjoys the sector for its transparency and dynamism. In his work, he focuses on balanced coverage of events and developments in the crypto space, providing information to his readers from a neutral perspective.