While many crypto traders are still waiting for the next altcoin season to begin, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes said it has been underway all along.
“There is always an altcoin season… and [if you’re] I always say that altcoin season is not here, [it’s] Because you don’t own what happened,” Hayes said during a podcast interview posted to YouTube on Thursday.
Hayes said many traders still expect the altcoin season to play out similarly to previous years, assuming the same cryptocurrencies and narratives will repeat themselves. “You wanted it to be like the last altcoin season, because then you felt like you knew what you had to do,” Hayes said.
Hayes warns traders should ‘adapt’ and not look to the past
“Oh, I have to buy these things because that’s what was inflated last season,” he added.
Arthur Hayes (right) spoke with Kyle Chasse (left) on his podcast Thursday. Source: Kyle Chase
Hayes said crypto traders should rethink their approach and pay attention to what’s new in the market, rather than relying on history. “It’s a new season, new things are pumping,” he stressed.
Hayes highlighted Hyperliquid (HYPE) as the “best story” of this crypto cycle so far, highlighting launching at “two or three dollars,” before “tearing up to $60.”
He also cited Solana (SOL), which lost most of its gains in 2022 at nearly “seven dollars,” before climbing to nearly $300 earlier this year.
Solana is down 6.27% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap
“Again, there was an altcoin season. You just didn’t participate in it,” he said.
However, not everyone agrees with Hayes. CoinQuant CEO Maen Ftoui recently told Cointelegraph that legacy cryptocurrencies that have an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or are expected to receive an ETF will absorb a large portion of the capital deployed during the upcoming altcoin season.
The industry debates what the next altcoin season will look like
Many in the industry have divergent views on how and when the next altcoin season will play out.
Related: Bitwise exec says 2026 will be crypto’s true bull year; here’s why
Some traders are still waiting for the traditional rotation, starting with Bitcoin (BTC) reaching new highs before capital moves into Ether (ETH) and then smaller altcoins.
Meanwhile, Bitfinex analysts said in August that altcoins were unlikely to see a broad, outsized rally until ETFs offering exposure beyond the largest cryptocurrencies are approved.
Review: Big Questions: Would Bitcoin Survive a 10-Year Power Outage?