Arthur Hayes Reveals When Market Participants Should Expect This Cycle's Altcoin Season

The broader crypto market has been anticipating the altcoin season, a period when the prices of alternative cryptocurrencies outperform Bitcoin.

Co-founder of crypto derivatives platform BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, has revealed when market participants should expect this cycle’s altcoin season.

The broader crypto market has been anticipating altcoin season, a period when the prices of alternative cryptocurrencies outpace Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin first hit $100,000 in December 2024, discussions about when this event could begin have taken center stage in the crypto community.

Timeline for Altcoin Season

Even though altcoins have also experienced gains, this growth pales in comparison to previous alt seasons. With many investors asking when this cycle’s altcoin season would begin, Anna Tutova, a journalist with Fortune, recently posed this question to Hayes at the Token2049 event in Dubai.

In response, Hayes stated that for altcoin season to commence, Bitcoin’s price must break above $110,000. It’s worth noting that Bitcoin approached the $110,000 mark in January but ultimately failed, with its rally peaking at $109,114.

However, once Bitcoin surpasses $110,000, Hayes anticipates increased volume will drive the price toward loftier targets like $150,000-$200,000 by summer or Q3 2025.

Afterward, he expects profit-taking in Bitcoin to follow suit, with some being channeled into altcoins, potentially kicking off altcoin season.

2025 Altcoin Season Would Be Smaller Compared to 2021

Nevertheless, Hayes does not expect the 2025 altcoin season to match the scale of the one experienced in 2021. During that period, the prices of major altcoins surged rapidly, with some realizing over 100x gains.

He speculates that a new narrative could emerge to captivate investor interest this time, possibly leading to significant spikes. Hayes also suggested that many of the older “dinosaur” tokens, especially those with high fully diluted valuations (FDVs), limited circulating supply, and minimal demand, are unlikely to recover in the upcoming altcoin season.

Predictions for Bitcoin, Solana, and Ethereum

Furthermore, Hayes shared his predictions for Bitcoin’s price trajectory in the coming months and years. According to him, Bitcoin will reach an all-time high of $250,000 by the end of the year, likely after altcoin season.

Moreover, the crypto entrepreneur anticipates Bitcoin to continue its rally and eventually hit an ambitious mark of $1 million toward the end of Trump’s presidency in 2028. He made a similar prediction for Bitcoin in his most recent Substack post.

He attributes this projected surge to several factors, including a shift of capital from traditional assets into hard assets like Bitcoin.

Ethereum to Outperform Solana

Finally, he also chimed in on the debate about which altcoin, Ethereum or Solana, would outperform the other. According to Hayes, Ethereum will outpace Solana over the next 18 to 24 months.

He made this assertion despite acknowledging that Solana has outperformed Ethereum since 2020, with its price increasing from $7 to $265. Notably, Solana has already surpassed its 2021 peak this year while Ethereum is still lagging behind. Despite this, Hayes believes that Ethereum is the better investment.

According to Hayes, despite being disliked by some, Ethereum still leads in terms of total value locked (TVL), developer activity, and security, making it the most robust proof-of-stake blockchain.