By the 25th of February, Ethereum (ETH) faced a downward slide to $2.3K, breaching the critical $2.6K mark, a development that crypto analyst Ali Martinez warned could disrupt the altcoin season.
According to Martinez’s assessment, a drop below Ethereum’s long-standing upward channel would indicate a shift in ETH’s market dynamics, potentially impacting the broader altcoin market.
“The continuation of the altcoin season hinges on #Ethereum $ETH maintaining the $2,600 support level!”
Status of Altcoin Season
Within the last 24 hours, the altcoin market experienced a further $160 billion decline in market capitalization, plummeting from $1.28 trillion to $1.12 trillion.
Since the peak in December, the altcoin sector has witnessed a loss exceeding $590 billion due to consistent bearish trends.
Even the ETH/BTC ratio, a key gauge of altcoin momentum that uses Ethereum’s performance as a benchmark, was yet to establish a definitive bottom.
The ratio has fallen by 68%, reaching levels last seen five years ago.
Unlike the minor rebound seen towards the end of 2024, which fueled the altcoin surge in November, the indicator has not shown a robust recovery in 2025, potentially dampening altcoin season expectations.
However, Ki Young Ju from CryptoQuant highlighted a 24% surge in addresses holding between $10K-100K ETH over the past year.
Furthermore, with a price base of $2,199, Ethereum’s sustained rebound might rely on the price maintaining levels above $2.2K.
Nevertheless, the altcoin season index stands at 31, pointing to a dominant BTC season.
Furthermore, Bitcoin dominance rose by over 2% from 60% to 62% in the previous week, potentially limiting the recovery prospects of altcoins in the short term.
Interestingly, some outliers in the altcoin space recorded double-digit gains despite prevailing bearish sentiments. Story [IP], Maker [MKR], Sei [SEI], and Berachain [BERA] stood out as top weekly performers.
Conversely, Raydium’s RAY experienced the most substantial decline, dropping by 46%, with added pressure from Pumpfun launching its automated market maker (AMM) for its graduated tokens.