 ▲ Altcoin / ChatGPT-generated image |
Investor sentiment toward altcoins, excluding Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), has sharply deteriorated in the cryptocurrency market, with selling pressure reaching its highest level in five years.
On February 18 (local time), cryptocurrency media outlet Decrypt, citing data from on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, reported that cumulative selling pressure in the altcoin market has reached $209 billion. This marks a steep decline from January 2025, when supply and demand were relatively balanced, and represents the strongest net selling level since 2021. Experts interpret this as a clear signal that retail investors are exiting the cryptocurrency market en masse.
Andri Fauzan Azima, Head of Research at Bitrue, stated that the $209 billion in net selling reflects a large-scale retail exodus and an overall lack of demand. With institutional investors primarily focused on Bitcoin and a few major altcoins, the current downturn appears to be driven more by one-sided panic selling by retail investors rather than a joint withdrawal by both institutions and individuals. As a result, the market is showing unstable patterns, briefly rebounding on short-term issues before quickly reversing.
Funds exiting altcoins are moving into stablecoins, reinforcing a defensive stance. According to CryptoQuant data, Binance holds approximately $47.5 billion in stablecoins, accounting for 65% of the exchange’s total liquidity. Azima noted that the $47.5 billion deposited on Binance suggests that investors have not completely left the market but have shifted to a wait-and-see approach, adding that overall market confidence is at rock bottom.
Ryan Yoon, Senior Analyst at Seoul-based Tiger Research, shared a similar view. Yoon explained that the concentration of 65% of stablecoin liquidity on Binance indicates that investors are waiting for an entry point, but the market remains trapped in a situation where “there is another bottom below the bottom.” While investors are preparing for bottom fishing, the deeper-than-expected downturn is preventing them from acting decisively.
Experts warn that only a handful of projects will survive in the altcoin market. Azima predicted a Darwinian shakeout in which only projects with real adoption will endure, while the rest will never recover their previous highs. Yoon also forecast a market filtering process in which institutions directly select specific chains and connect them to tangible token utility, clearly separating purely speculative projects from those with real substance.
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