Altcoins, excluding Ethereum, have experienced a net selling volume of $209 billion since January 2025. This marks a substantial decline in speculative demand for cryptocurrencies.
On major exchanges like Binance, altcoin trading volumes have dropped by approximately 50% since November 2025. This decrease coincides with a notable rise in Bitcoin's share of total trading activity.
Analysts suggest this contraction in altcoin demand, coupled with increased stablecoin dominance, indicates a market-wide capital rotation towards Bitcoin during the current downtrend.
Data shows Bitcoin's volume share climbed to 36.8% by early February, while altcoin volumes decreased to 33.6% by mid-February, down from a high of 59.2% in November.
Meanwhile, Tether's market cap dominance has reached an all-time high of 8% on the one-week chart. Historically, rising stablecoin dominance correlates with capital moving into dollar-pegged assets rather than directly into volatile tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Periods of elevated USDT dominance have previously coincided with Bitcoin consolidating near market lows.