Altcoins Outperform Bitcoin With Double-Digit Weekly Gains
Altcoins such as Near Protocol, Polkadot, and Jupiter surged over the past week, gaining 19.4%, 16.5%, and 15.8% respectively, while Bitcoin remained near breakeven after rebounding from geopolitical-driven lows. This divergence is fueled by technical factors and short-covering rather than genuine market confidence or improved fundamentals. The crypto market sentiment remains highly fearful, as indicated by the Crypto Fear & Greed Index near extreme lows, reflecting recent forced selling and thin liquidity. Experts attribute the altcoin rally to oversold technical conditions and the unwinding of leveraged bearish positions, not a shift toward risk or safe-haven behavior. Broader macro uncertainty and geopolitical risk persist, and sustained momentum for altcoins would require stabilization in institutional inflows, macro clarity, and continued technical strength. Despite a recent $787 million inflow into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, long-term outlooks for altcoins remain pessimistic, with prediction markets assigning a low probability to a full-scale “alt season” in the near future.
