Market fear has caused major financial indices and crypto to drop, with Bitcoin briefly falling below US$100k to US$98,543 before recovering to US$101,730, still down over 4%.
Experts are divided on whether altcoin season is approaching, with some seeing signs of divergent strength while others like Arthur Hayes believe most altcoins won’t rise again.
Bloomberg ETF experts have increased approval odds of several applications for US altcoin ETFs.
The escalating situation in the Middle East has reached yet another dramatic high point, with US President Donald Trump announcing that the US had bombed several nuclear sites within Iran. Iran itself has vowed to retaliate, which could include military strikes which would further escalate the situation.
Meanwhile, the Iranian parliament has reportedly voted to close the Strait of Hormuz, which could see oil prices skyrocket.
While we wait to see how Iran responds to the US bombardment, markets have reacted with fear. Most major financial indices have dropped; so too has the crypto market.
Bitcoin briefly dipped below US$100k, reaching as low as US$98,543 (AU$153,801), early Monday morning, Australian time. It recovered slightly this afternoon and currently trades at US$101,730 (AU$158,755), still down over 4 per cent in the past 24 hours.
Not everyone seems fearful of what’s next. Veteran trader Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, told his over 700k followers on X that he believes the money printers will soon be “revving up”.
Earlier in March, Hayes said investors need to be patient, as large drawdowns of 30 to 40 per cent are “normal for a bull market”.
Related: Michael Saylor Predicts Bitcoin to Reach $21 Million in 21 Years
Experts Divided on Potential for Altseason
The question is whether it’s finally time for altcoins to shine. According to Cointelegraph, Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, believes altcoin season may be here soon.
He said that although most of the attention has been on Iran-US tensions and Bitcoin, “the altcoin market is showing signs of divergent strength”.
The coming months could see altcoins outperform if macro conditions stabilize and crypto-specific catalysts gain traction.
Nick Ruck, LVRG Research
However, not everyone agrees with that assessment. Hayes, for example, recently said that, in his view, “most altcoins […] are probably not gonna go up in price again”.
One reason for this could be that investors are just not into altcoins at the present. Another is that more and more companies are establishing Bitcoin reserves – while it’s rather quiet on altcoin reserves, though there are some exceptions.
With only Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) currently available to US customers, the approval of altcoin ETFs could give the asset class a boost.
As reported, Bloomberg ETF gurus, James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have just increased odds of approval of several ETF filings to 95 per cent for Litecoin, Solana and XRP, and to 90 per cent for several others including Dogecoin and Cardano.
Time will tell if these get approved and whether they can indeed ignite a new altseason.
Related: Peter Schiff Changes Tune on Bitcoin, Says He Gets It, While Dismissing USD Stablecoins