Coinbase: Altcoin Season Is Coming

According to a recent report published by Coinbase Institutional, a "full-scale" altcoin season appears to be likely.  

This implies that the vast majority of alternative cryptocurrencies (roughly 75%) will be outperforming Bitcoin. 

A local top? 

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to implement a 25-basis-point rate cut in September. Polymarket bettors currently see a 75% chance of the Fed making such a move following the next meeting held by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). 

Some have assumed that the next Fed rate cut could potentially mark a local top for the leading cryptocurrency. 

However, Coinbase does not believe that this will necessarily be the case. The report has noted that a lot of retail capital remains on the sidelines, and a likely rate cut could potentially "unlock" it. 

Bitcoin's plunging dominance 

Bitcoin's market cap dominance has now collapsed to 59.39%, recording a stunning 10.21% drop since late June. 

On Aug. 14, Ethereum (ETH) reached a new 2025 peak of 0.039 BTC. The ETH/BTC pair has now surged by a whopping 123% from its multi-year low of 0.01766 BTC that was logged on Apr. 22. 

According to analytics firm CryptoQuant, the ETH/BTC pair recently crossed above its 365-day moving average. If history is any guide, this could mark the start of another bullish cycle.  

Other major alternative cryptocurrencies, such as XRP and Solana (SOL), have also recorded substantial gains against Bitcoin. 

Crypto analyst Miles Deutscher argues that Bitcoin dominance now looks "extremely weak" for the first time since 2024.