Altcoins are leading the shift, with rising realized cap growth pointing to a rotation toward real utility.
If Ethereum and DOGE no longer dominate capital inflows, is altseason rewriting its core narrative?
While Bitcoin’s [BTC] potential for new all-time highs, the Fed’s rate trajectory, and Trump’s tariff rhetoric remain key macro variables, one thing appears increasingly clear: A full-scale altcoin season hasn’t yet materialized.
Still, there’s an interesting split happening under the surface. Some altcoins are attracting fresh inflows, while others are seeing major drop-offs.
AMBCrypto believes that it’s a subtle shift, but it might be telling us something important about where investor conviction is really headed.
Realized cap reveals a changing market playbook
Altseason looks different this time around. Instead of piling into old favorites like Ethereum [ETH] and Dogecoin [DOGE], capital is rotating into faster, more utility-driven chains.
In fact, both Ethereum and Dogecoin have seen over a 50% drop in capital inflows compared to 2018–2022.
Meanwhile, networks like Solana [SOL], Tron [TRX], and other high-throughput chains are soaking up liquidity, thanks to real-world use cases.
The chart below illustrates this trend clearly: Ethereum’s realized cap inflows, which topped $170 billion during the 2018–2022 cycle, have dropped sharply in the current cycle.
This drawdown aligns closely with its waning dominance, sliding from a peak of 26% in Q2 2018 to just 9.13% at press time.
Source: Glassnode
To clarify, unlike market cap, realized cap reflects actual capital entering the asset. It tracks the value of coins based on the price they last moved on-chain.
So when realized cap grows, it signals real investment activity, like investors are buying coins at higher prices, moving them on-chain, or actively revaluing the network.
And while ETH and DOGE may still be posting solid year-over-year growth in network activity, it’s failing to match the capital inflows of previous cycles, suggesting that new money isn’t flowing in at the same pace.
A few altcoins defy the cycle trend
Dogecoin, too, has felt the impact of a saturated memecoin landscape. After hitting over 3% dominance in its 2021 run, DOGE is now struggling to break past 1%.
Meanwhile, Solana and Ripple [XRP] haven’t been the top performers in terms of price this year, yet relative to other large caps, have posted nearly 2x growth in realized cap inflows.
But the standout performer has been Toncoin [TON], registering an 820% increase in realized cap inflows, climbing from $500 million to $4.68 billion.
In fact, its dominance hitting 1.10% in May 2024, right when it topped out at $8.24, backs that up. The timing isn’t a coincidence. It highlights how realized inflows can act as a leading signal for price moves.
Source: TradingView (TON.D)
More critically, what ties all these altcoins together is that they’re utility-driven. They’re building usable networks with real-world applications and high throughput. This shift says a lot about where the market’s head is at.
Altseason isn’t just a frenzy anymore. Investors are leaning into projects that can scale, move fast, and actually deliver, especially in a space that’s getting more competitive by the day.