The market is painting a confusing image. Today, BTC and ETH have rallied strongly this week and are capturing every news headline this “Uptober”, while tension mounts as the crypto altcoin season index pushes higher, even as BTC USD remains supreme.
The headline numbers are hard to ignore as the BTC USD pair gained sharply, closing at its ATH, while the ETH USD pair followed with conviction, but barely pushed above $4,500. Still, with BTC dominance brushing close to 60 %, the tug‑of‑war between majors and alts remains intense.
Across crypto news today, the dominant narrative is strength in top pairs. As seen in CoinGecko, BTC USD climbed roughly 11-12% over the week, while ETH USD mirrored that momentum with the same gain percentage. These have outpaced many altcoins, which is why the altcoin season index is only gradually rising.
(source – Crypto Gains, CoinGecko)
On the derivatives front, funding rates for both BTC-USD and ETH-USD remain in positive territory, as buying pressure increasing. Liquidations remain relatively muted, well below earlier market extremes, which has lent stability to both pairs. That said, BTC dominance remains around 59-60%, limiting the room for many altcoins to break away.
(source – BTC.D, TradingView)
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Crypto Altcoin Season Index Climbs as News on BTC USD & ETH USD Surge, But BTC Dominance Looms Over Alt Hopes Today
The altcoin season index has inched upward to sit near 65–70 in recent sessions, a perfect sign for alt rotation. Yet even with that rise, today, crypto still points to underlying rigidity as
Bitcoin
1.62%
continues to outperform most rivals, and dominance figures maintain pressure on breakout potential as much as most news saying an alt season is coming.
(source – Altcoin Season Index, Coinglass)
From a liquidity perspective, DefiLlama reports that total value locked (TVL) in DeFi has seen modest growth, led by
Ethereum
0.27%
and/or EVM chains. Increasing deposits and usage on Ethereum L1/L2 protocols are tilting the balance in favor of its USD dominance in the DeFi narrative. Meanwhile, stablecoin supply caps across the ecosystem have expanded, another sign of the start of altcoin season.
(source – TVL, Defillama)
The altcoin season index is bullish, and derivatives metrics, such as perpetual volume and open interest, are rapidly increasing. Yet so far, structural concentrations (TVL skewed toward ETH ecosystems, BTC’s valuation power) are keeping the alt rally suppressed. The index rise and BTC dominance near 60 % exist side by side, forming the core tension in major crypto news today.
Will altseason start in December ❓
According to optimists on Twitter and the classic “market cycle psychology” chart, December is when the market enters the Thrill phase, and in January comes Euphoria — the peak of altseason and endless multipliers.
The “market cycle… pic.twitter.com/AyxKKoOdZO
— baZOOka (@baZOOka_trading) October 4, 2025
In sum, BTC USD and ETH USD are doing the heavy lifting at this stage, while the altcoin season index points to latent potential. What happens next hinges on dominance trending materially lower and liquidity dispersing more evenly. Markets are poised as alts wait for a run.
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