- Over the past week, 280 of the top 300 cryptocurrencies rose, with buying spreading into major altcoins as Bitcoin and Ether led the rebound.
- Experts said whether the market has entered an altcoin bull phase still requires more confirmation, including Bitcoin holding above its 200-day moving average and buying broadening from Ether into the wider altcoin market.
- Analysts said the surge reflected a mix of factors, including Trump’s push to advance the CLARITY Act, the U.S. Treasury’s expanded bond buybacks, and expectations for easing regulatory uncertainty in crypto markets.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Buying swept across the altcoin market as President Donald Trump’s push to advance the CLARITY Act coincided with the U.S. Treasury’s plan to expand bond buybacks. Bitcoin and Ether led the rebound, while short sellers rushed to cover, fueling sharp gains across many large-cap altcoins. Still, the latest surge reflects both policy optimism and short-term positioning, leaving open the question of whether a full-fledged altcoin bull market has begun.
280 of Top 300 Tokens Advance as TRUMP, ENA, XRP Jump
Over the past week, about 280 of the top 300 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization rose, while about 20 declined. Bitcoin and Ether led the rebound, and buying spread from major altcoins to smaller thematic tokens. Among the biggest gainers, tokens tied to exchange-traded fund expectations and political themes stood out.
CoinMarketCap data on Aug. 22 showed double-digit weekly gains across major altcoins, including Ether (ETH, 33.9%), Solana (SOL, 33%), XRP (XRP, 64.5%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, 45.1%), Dogecoin (DOGE, 42.1%), Cardano (ADA, 42%), Avalanche (AVAX, 22.6%) and Chainlink (LINK, 32.4%). The rebound was no longer confined to Bitcoin and had spread broadly across leading altcoins.
Book of Meme (BOME, 71.2%), Bitway (BTW, 73.7%), HEX (HEX, 70.4%) and Ethena (ENA, 88.8%) also surged. Pump.fun (PUMP, 59%), SPX6900 (SPX, 55.1%), Pepe (PEPE, 69.4%) and Zcash (ZEC, 67%) were among other strong performers.
Many of the top gainers moved on token-specific catalysts. BTW drew buying after Binance Wallet announced its Bitway Booster UN Season 5 campaign and reward-pool allocations for BTW. Traders also pointed to the pattern of sharp price gains during past booster campaigns, along with rising futures open interest.
Official Trump (TRUMP), the politically themed memecoin, jumped 87.8% over the past week. Buying accelerated after rumors spread that a Trump family-related token could be launched on Robinhood Chain, Robinhood’s blockchain network. So far, however, neither Robinhood nor Trump’s side has officially announced plans for such a token.
ENA climbed as purchases by BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes coincided with his bullish comments, higher protocol revenue and expanding USDe issuance. ZEC gained as Grayscale’s amended filing for a spot ZEC exchange-traded fund and expectations of institutional accumulation drew attention.
Among mid-cap tokens, PulseX (PLSX, 54%), Ansem (ANSEM, 52.7%), Geodnet (GEOD, 35.5%), PulseChain (PLS, 47.1%), Plasma (XPL, 37.2%) and Tibbir by Virtuals (TIBBIR, 39.5%) posted outsized gains.
Some tokens lagged the broader market rebound. Cysic (CYS, -45.9%), Tag (TAG, -24%), Velvet (VELVET, -28.8%), Kaito (KAITO, -0.9%) and Genius (GENIUS, -2.5%) fell over the same period. CYS appears to have surrendered part of its earlier gains after profit-taking followed a rally earlier in August, when expectations for the launch of a decentralized AI benchmarking platform and an Upbit listing had fueled buying.
Is the Altcoin Rally Taking Hold? Bullish Turn Still Unconfirmed
Market watchers remain split between hopes for a new bull cycle and caution over a short-term spike. The market rebounded quickly as short positions were covered and policy expectations improved. But for the rally in altcoins to continue, Bitcoin’s rebound needs to hold and buying must spread beyond Ether into other major tokens.
The overall crypto market has extended gains after breaking out of a long trading range. Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at FxPro, said total crypto market capitalization rose about 7% in 24 hours to $2.51 trillion. It is up 18% on the week and 24% from last month’s low. He attributed the move to stronger risk appetite after the U.S. Treasury expanded bond buybacks, as well as short covering that added fuel to the rally. The crypto Fear & Greed Index climbed to 72 on Aug. 22, near this year’s highs.
Some analysts also see room for further gains in major altcoins, including Ether. Crypto strategist Michaël van de Poppe said most altcoins remain near their lows versus Bitcoin despite the recent rebound. If altcoins begin to turn decisively, gains could accelerate. With Ether now above its long-term 200-day moving average, attention is shifting to whether buying will spread from large-cap tokens to smaller names.
Policy and macro conditions remain central to whether the rebound can last. Trump has signaled his determination to advance the CLARITY Act, a U.S. crypto market-structure bill, and has also mentioned the possibility of national-level purchases of digital assets such as Bitcoin. That has lifted policy hopes. At the same time, uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz and global oil prices persists after the U.S. signaled tougher economic sanctions on Iran. On Polymarket, the odds that the CLARITY Act will become law this year remain around 28%, suggesting policy optimism has yet to translate into legislative reality.
BitFi Research, a Hong Kong-based digital-asset research firm, said the latest surge in crypto prices was not driven by a single catalyst. Instead, it reflected a combination of short liquidations, expectations for lower long-term Treasury yields and a rotation of funds out of AI-related stocks. If uncertainty over crypto regulation eases further, selective buying could continue in exchange-listed tokens, token issuance, DeFi and infrastructure-related names.
Others caution that the recent rebound does not by itself mark the start of an altcoin bull market. Benjamin Cowen, founder of Into The Cryptoverse, said Bitcoin staged several sharp rebounds in 2018, raising hopes that it had found a bottom. Many altcoins then fell another 70% to 80% before eventually recovering.
He also cited 2022, when Bitcoin jumped 23% in a short period before its final bottom formed, only to give back those gains and slide back toward the lows. Until Bitcoin shows it can hold above its 200-day moving average over the next few weeks, currently about $68,977, it is difficult to call the altcoin rebound a trend reversal.
Kang Min-seung, Bloomingbit reporter minriver@bloomingbit.io