Altcoin season index hits 2026 high as tokens outperform Bitcoin

what happened

The Altcoin Season Index reached a 2026 high of 65 points on October 12, RBC Crypto reports. Coinmarketcap calculates the indicator by comparing the performance of the 100 largest coins with Bitcoin. An altcoin season is considered to have begun when at least 75% of altcoins outperform BTC. The current reading remains below that threshold, although the index has nearly tripled since the start of autumn, rising from 23 on September 1 to 65.

Bitcoin was trading near $84,000 on Monday morning. It has gained almost 35% over the past three months, while more than half of the 100 largest altcoins delivered stronger returns. Thirty of them rose by more than 60%. PUMP, the token of the Pump.fun memecoin launchpad on Solana, led the advance, gaining 300% in 90 days. QNT, issued by infrastructure blockchain project Quant, and RAY, the token of decentralized exchange Raydium, ranked next with gains of 273% and 264%, respectively.

STRK, NEAR, ENA, ZRO, ZEC, STX and VVV also made the 10 strongest performers over three months, each rising more than 120%. ETH gained 44%, while HYPE advanced 37%. Over the past week, the leaders included ZRO (+18%), FIL (+12.6%), ICP (+11.9%), VVV (+11.6%) and NEAR (+10.7%), according to Coinmarketcap data.

STABLE, the token of Stablechain, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for payments and stablecoin settlements with fees charged in Tether’s USDT, was the biggest decliner, falling 30%. M and the Binance Life (币安人生) memecoin declined 25% and 14%, while GRAM lost 8.5%. WLFI fell 0.98%. Gold-linked tokens PAXG and XAUT gained about 4% over the three-month period.

why it matters

The broader outperformance of altcoins points to stronger interest in riskier crypto assets, although the formal threshold for an altcoin season has not yet been reached.

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