Top-performing altcoins from previous bull cycles dominate social media mindshare

The mindshare of XRP and older altcoins has grown significantly in the last 24 hours. This time around, the list includes older coins and tokens, re-entering consideration after the meme craze. Kaito’s mindshare metric is one of the timely indicators measuring social media exposure for all assets.

The XRP rally coincided with the biggest daily gains in social media mindshare. However, XRP was not the only asset from older bull markets to gain interest. Several coins and tokens grew their mindshare, knocking off meme token stars. 

While peak attention remains focused on Solana (SOL), former gainers like Avalanche (AVAX), Hedera (HBAR), and Litecoin (LTC) have also seen revivals. Still, all of these tokens had a weaker mindshare compared to XRP. 

XRP is currently ranked 1st for mindshare.

Yes, you read that correctly. pic.twitter.com/bSKheApH5C

— Kaito AI 🌊 (@_kaitoai) December 2, 2024

There is no consensus on which narrative will emerge as the most appealing for investors, but older tokens show they can still rally in a way similar to meme assets. 

In contrast, former social media star Popcat (POPCAT) saw its sentiment measure diminish, with its mindshare metric shrinking in the red for the first time in five months. 

The latest shift of attention to older altcoins follows a recent focus on AI agents and AI content accounts. The move into “dinosaur altcoins” shows a taste for risk for any and all coins and tokens, with the expectation of briefly outperforming BTC. 

Sentiment shifts closer to altcoin season

In 2024, the focus on meme tokens caused speculation that some assets would never recover their previous highs, or even rally again. 

However, the biggest gainers since the US Presidential election rally were the most unexpected coins and tokens. In addition to XRP, the biggest gainers also included tokens with large communities and established cults of followers over the years. 

The list of projects includes Stellar (XLM), Algorand (ALGO), Hedera (HBAR), Cardano (ADA), and even IOTA. Those projects all had triple-digit gains since November 6, far outperforming the 37% gains for BTC. The recent rally for the so-called “dinosaur altcoins” showed the main volumes are flowing into XRP, XLM, ADA, and a handful of other assets.

If these coins and tokens begin to slide, the earnings may roll over to another batch of altcoins and tokens.

The projects on the list had ambitious goals of onboarding businesses, finance services, or serving as the platform for the Internet of Things (IOTA). While most of the promises remained unfulfilled, those platforms also retained their long-term true believers. 

Altcoin season index just below cut-off line

The rising mindshare for older altcoins coincides with the growing altcoin season index. The index measures how much the top 100 altcoins and tokens outperform BTC. 

The index took a week to rally from under 50 points to 73 points on December 2. The altcoin season index has a cut-off of 75 points to announce the official cut-off level. 

The index growth also coincided with an uptick in Google searches for “altcoin season.” Interest grew from 4 points in October to 100 points in December, as hopes for more actively growing assets increased. The altcoin “buy” signal based on Dune Analytics data is also pointing to a cautious expectation for outperforming BTC.

Altcoin season traditionally follows a BTC all-time high and subsequent lowering of BTC’s dominance. Just days after achieving peak dominance, BTC fell to 55.8% of the total crypto market capitalization. The conditions seem to align for an altcoin rally, as trading volumes shifted to other markets. 

The appeal of altcoins is in their well-established status and liquid listings. For now, even the best outperforming meme tokens only last for a few days. Altcoins, on the other hand, have gone through a long period of accumulation, and are starting to form vertical rallies. 

One of the setbacks for altcoins may be long-term holders turning into sellers after waiting for years to breakeven or make a profit. An altcoin season may only last a few months, but it is a risky and active time for trading. 

Before altcoins started their vertical trajectory, attention also turned to other sources of growth. NFT and NFT markets increased their mindshare. Tokenless projects with the potential for an airdrop also received more social media mentions.

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