The Altcoin Question: Why a Genuine Bull Market Requires Broader Participation

Claims that the “Shanzhai Season” has ended might be premature. Consider what such an outcome would actually mean: roughly 90% of altcoins would flatline on monthly charts like a horizontal line on a monitor, followed by another devastating 90% collapse during the next prolonged downturn. Most projects would either vanish entirely or face delisting. The surviving 10% might struggle to deliver even a modest 10x return. Under this scenario, the entire alt market would be decimated, and retail participation would likely evaporate for the foreseeable future.

But does this framework make sense? Can this truly represent a functioning market ecosystem?

The Core Issue with Weak Cycles

A legitimate bull market thrives on profit diffusion—capital flowing across sectors, opportunity creating for participants at all levels. If most altcoins remain dormant or decline while only select assets rise, can we honestly call this a bull market? Without meaningful asset rotation and accessible entry points for newcomers, why would everyday traders return? How would market participants, exchanges, and development teams sustain operations?

Even under conservative projections about crypto dividend cycles, the math should favor quality altcoins with 5x moves and speculative tokens with at least 2x appreciation. This level of volatility isn’t excessive—it’s foundational to market health. Without it, retail confidence erodes permanently.

Two Possible Futures

The situation presents two paths. Either institutional capital follows traditional market logic—continuous activity, rotating opportunities, cyclical wealth generation across the ecosystem—or this cycle represents the final extraction, with major players treating the bull market as their last harvest.

The alternative suggests institutions have decided to collapse the system entirely, turning this rally into a one-time bleed-out rather than a sustainable cycle.

Most market participants remain convinced that capital flows perpetually, and bubbles inevitably rotate. On that conviction, positions remain, most notably in $BTC and $ETH. The horizontal line on traditional charts doesn’t define crypto’s future—the invisible horizontal line separating belief from abandonment might.