The total market capitalization of cryptocurrency approaches $3 trillion, and most altcoins remain deeply trapped, with only a few tokens recovering or even reaching new highs.

Written by: Billy Bambrough, Forbes

Translated by: AididiaoJP, Foresight News

This week, Bitcoin has regained focus in the market. The price has risen to around $85,000, marking the first time in about eight months, and is part of a 44% increase in the third quarter, the best quarter since the end of 2024. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have continuously flowed back from the end of August to mid-September, totaling about $3.8 billion over three weeks, the strongest segment since 2026. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan told CNBC, "Crypto spring is here," predicting that this will be one of the longest bull markets in history.

On the same ranking list, the largest gains are not from Bitcoin. The total market cap is back above approximately $2.8 trillion and even approached $2.9 trillion at one point. The "trillion-dollar boom" referred to in Forbes pertains to the scale of this recovery. However, Bitcoin is still about 40% lower than its approximately $126,000 peak in October 2025. The index is recovering, and the leading names have changed.

Among the top 50, only a few have surpassed the October 2025 peak

Jeff Dorman, Chief Investment Officer of digital asset management firm Arca, uses October 13, 2025, as a benchmark: Among the top 50 by market cap, about 39 are still deeply trapped, requiring an additional rise of 30% to 50% to return to previous highs. BTC itself is down about 31%, ETH about 40%, and SOL about 48%. The public list that has truly crossed this red line mainly includes: VVV, ZEC, DRV, HYPE, NEAR, UNI, MORPHO, and SKY.

The skyrocketing of VVV, DRV, and others is often accompanied by extremely strong concentration or one-time events; they should not be viewed as sector signals. There are roughly three types that can articulate the fundamentals clearly.

Privacy assets: ZEC is re-priced as "private Bitcoin"

ZEC has risen from the tens of dollars at the end of 2025 to around $1,500, with a market cap of approximately $25 billion, entering the global top ten. It can experience double-digit percentage increases within a week, with a stage high of about $1,590. The proportion of shielded pools in circulation rose from about 11% to around 30%, interpreted as chips being locked in rather than simple selling.

The narrative anchor has changed. Naval Ravikant previously stated, "Bitcoin protects fiat, ZEC protects Bitcoin," while Matt Huang from Paradigm offered a more restrained view: ZEC is a privacy supplement to Bitcoin, not a replacement. The vault company supported by Winklevoss has purchased ZEC as a reserve asset. Grayscale had once calculated that mining ZEC was more profitable than mining BTC for the same electricity, attracting miners due to profits—this would raise supply but also diminish this advantage over time.

During the same period, XMR and Dash also rose, but not to the extent of ZEC. Funds are re-evaluating this protocol: native privacy, governance votes to shorten block times, and discussions on quantum resistance, rather than a broad increase in privacy sectors. Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare and co-founder of ZEC, explained part of the buying as hedging against the "stagnation of Bitcoin": Some people are concerned that BTC is difficult to change, and thus give a flexibility premium to ZEC. This is a narrative, not an already happened "flip."

Perpetuals and DEX: It takes fees to have independent buying opposite Bitcoin

HYPE reached an all-time high of about $94, with a market cap exceeding $20 billion, with increases measured in multiples this year. Its logic is no longer simply about empty governance rights but rather about trade volume fee buybacks: the larger the transaction, the stronger the spot buying pressure. It capitalizes on on-chain perpetual share, and does not rely entirely on Bitcoin Beta.

UNI reaching above last October's high relies on the same logic being rewritten: exchanges generating large transactions, whether the token can be shared. If the fee switch and buyback expectations shift from "maybe" to "currently being priced," the valuation anchor shifts from governance rights to cash flow. NEAR is also on the short list of "with product iteration and real usage." MORPHO and SKY follow the income logic related to lending and stablecoins, and they are also not purely sentiment tickets.

ETH, XRP, and SOL also saw rebounds of 40% to 150% during the same period, but most remain below last October's highs. They prove that risk appetite is rising, but they do not prove that the "altcoin season" has fully unfolded.

Bitcoin's rise does not mean a 2017-style all-round dance

The phrase "left in the dust" in the Forbes title refers to relative gains, not a Bitcoin collapse. BTC has rebounded from this year's low of about $59,000 to around $85,000, reclaiming the 50-week moving average, with institutional funds still prioritizing Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Gold has risen about 9% during the same period, while the S&P 500 has increased about 2%. Bitcoin is not weak compared to traditional assets; what is weak is its relative position to its previous high and to those few tokens that have reached new highs.

The third quarter's impressive performance still needs to be observed in context. With historical highs halved, it's not fair to call it expensive; but with a market cap reaching trillions, replicating the early "small amounts of capital leveraging explosive growth" becomes increasingly difficult. Research from CryptoQuant and others previously calculated that similar amounts of net inflow required for the same degree of upward movement are much greater than in the last round. If the $3 trillion is to stabilize, it relies on continuous subscriptions and risk appetite, not just a couple of weekly candlesticks.

More critically, the structure matters. The "altcoin season" in 2017 and 2021 was marked by Bitcoin leading, capital then sinking down, and a widespread increase in alternative tokens. Current public data shows a "picky" pattern: assets with fees, buybacks, and specific attributes that Bitcoin does not choose (privacy) take the lead; merely following the rise may still result in stagnation. Nearly 80% of the top 50 have not returned to their previous highs, indicating that "prosperity" is written in total market value, but not yet in the cost basis of most tokens.

A short list can only be maintained, not by slogans

ZEC must face risks from privacy regulation, increased supply due to rising mining profits, and the risk of the "private Bitcoin" narrative being debunked. HYPE needs to contend with whether its perpetual market share will be taken by latecomers and whether buybacks can continue to surpass unlocks. UNI must cope with the pacing of fee distribution; after expectations are prematurely priced in, the price may first reflect disappointment.

If $3 trillion is merely a spike of emotions, the short list will also retrace. If it can stabilize, it is more likely to be a layered bull market: Bitcoin continues to serve as an entry and ballast, with only a few assets able to independently price out new highs. For traders, this means looking less at "the altcoin season is here" and more at who is generating cash, and who is supplementing what Bitcoin does not.

Conclusion

Bitcoin can continue to serve as the market's entry point. The true breakthrough of previous highs still lies with the short list, not the whole market.