Why the next altseason may not look like 2021

Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research, said the structure of any future altseason will differ from past cycles.

The next altseason, if we still call it that, will likely be driven by sectors rather than a blanket rally.

Sectors such as tokenized real‑world assets and artificial intelligence are drawing new users and institutional interest. Memecoins and weaker DeFi projects are not seeing the same inflows. The divergence suggests investors reward protocols with revenue and adoption over narratives alone.

Some traders compare the current phase to 2019, when Bitcoin dominance stayed above 70% for months before eventually rotating into altcoins. That cycle lacked spot Bitcoin ETFs and deep institutional participation. This one has both, which changes how capital flows in. Institutions tend to buy Bitcoin directly through ETFs rather than using crypto exchanges, reducing the natural spillover effect.

A sustained decline in Bitcoin dominance below 55%, combined with stronger altcoin relative performance, would strengthen the case for a broader rotation. Until then, Bitcoin remains the market's primary liquidity magnet. Altcoin rallies depend on sector‑specific catalysts, not market‑wide momentum.

Lee's comment points to a market where liquidity is available but highly selective. The old playbook of buying every altcoin during a Bitcoin rally may no longer apply. The data so far supports that view: altcoins that show protocol revenue and user growth are separating from the rest.