Altcoin selling pressure has surged to -$209 billion, reaching its highest level in five years according to on-chain data from CryptoQuant. This represents a sharp decline from near-zero in January 2025, with Binance now holding $47.5 billion in stablecoins—roughly 65% of exchange liquidity—as investors exit speculative positions. Experts warn of a “Darwinian shakeout” where only altcoins with real adoption will survive, while fleeting rallies in narrative-driven tokens quickly reverse, indicating a market dominated by short-term speculation and cautious capital.
Altcoin selling pressure, excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, has reached -$209 billion, according to on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant. This metric has fallen sharply from near zero in January 2025, with net selling now at levels last seen in 2021.
_”Net selling totaling -$209 billion reflects heavy retail exits and absent broad demand,”_ said Andri Fauzan Adziima, research lead at Bitrue. He added that this is more a one-sided retail dump than a joint exodus, as institutional investors focus on Bitcoin and major altcoins.
The sell-off coincides with substantial stablecoin flows, as shown by CryptoQuant’s stablecoin dashboard. Binance now holds nearly 65% of all exchange stablecoin liquidity—approximately $47.5 billion—indicating investors have rotated out of altcoin positions.
_”The $47.5 billion parked on Binance shows defensive ‘wait-and-see’ mode and liquidity concentration on the top platform, not full crypto exit,”_ Adziima said, explaining that it signals cratering confidence. Ryan Yoon, senior analyst at Seoul-based Tiger Research, echoed that framing.
_”The fact that 65% of stablecoin liquidity is sitting on Binance suggests that investors are hunting for entry points, yet they keep getting caught in a ‘dip under the dip,'”_ he said. Despite selling pressure, speculative altcoin trading persists, with tokens like WLFI jumping 20% before shedding 7%.
Altcoin dominance has surged nearly 14% since mid-January, reflecting capital rotation into altcoins for speculative trading. Adziima predicts a “Darwinian shakeout” where only altcoins with real adoption survive, while most never reclaim their highs.
Yoon too expects a market-wide filter that separates viable projects from speculation as institutions handpick specific chains. Both analysts see only a handful of altcoins surviving in the long run.
