Market capitalization entered its fourth consecutive week of decline, with the market losing nearly $1 trillion in November, but the data reveals notable differences in how investors withdraw their money. Mid-cap and low-cap assets are showing surprisingly positive signals.
What is this signal? And what does it mean in the current situation? We’ll explain more in the report below.
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3 positive signals for altcoins at the most pessimistic market
The market sentiment index has remained at “extreme fear” for most of November. Still, some positive signals still emerge as a ray of hope for altcoins.
First, CryptoQuant’s report compares the market capitalization performance of Bitcoin, large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap altcoins. It has shown remarkable resilience in the lower cap segment.
According to the market cap comparison chart, Bitcoin experienced its steepest decline in November. Large-cap stocks, including the top 20 altcoins, also fell, but to a lesser extent. Small- and mid-cap altcoins suffered only a slight decline, with little damage.
“Large-cap stocks are struggling, but not as much as BTC, but small- and mid-cap stocks are showing real resilience,” said analyst Dirkforst.
In fact, this chart shows that only Bitcoin and large-cap market caps are at new all-time highs. Mid- and low-cap assets have not yet returned to their peak in late 2024. From a psychological perspective, when an altcoin declines too much (often losing 80-90% of its value), holders tend to view their assets as “already lost.” They then have little incentive to panic sell.
This leads to the second notable factor: the disconnect between Bitcoin’s dominance and the dominance of others.
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Bitcoin Dominance (BTC.D) measures Bitcoin’s share of market capitalization. OTHERS Dominance (OTHERS.D) measures the share held by all altcoins except the top 10.
According to this graph, OTHERS.D rose from 6.6% to 7.4% in November. Meanwhile, BTC.D fell from 61% to 58.8%.
This divergence means that altcoin investors are no longer so easily panic-selling, even at a loss. Instead, they hold their positions and wait for recovery.
Historically, when BTC.D falls and altcoins become more dominant, the market often moves into an altcoin bull cycle.
Furthermore, according to Binance data, 60% of current trading volume comes from altcoins. This is the highest level since early 2025.
Analyst Martun believes this data highlights where the real trading activity is taking place. Currently, activity is concentrated outside of the major cryptocurrencies. Altcoins have once again become a very popular means of trading on Binance.
“Historically, an increase in the share of altcoin trading volume often coincides with an increase in speculation in the market,” Martun said.
In summary, mid- and low-cap altcoins are seeing strong liquidity inflows. It also has good price performance and a high market share. These factors indicate that altcoin holders have high hopes for a recovery from the bottom region.
