Altcoins and tokens stall in October, underperforming 'Uptober' narrative

Altcoins and tokens stalled in October, despite the expectations for another month of traditional growth. The expected “Uptober” did not materialize, while liquidity returned to more conservative assets. 

The crypto market breadth metric, measuring the performance of altcoins and tokens, contracted in October

. Based on Cryptorank data, only 8% of the top 100 broader market assets posted net gains in October. The previous month, 81% of the top 100 assets posted net gains, causing general optimism for a more lasting market recovery. 

As Cryptopolitan reported, traders flocked to newly issued altcoins and tokens, instead of allocating liquidity to coins from previous bull markets. During that time, the active trading of selected assets did not even cause the altcoin season index metric to budge. 

Altcoins and tokens locked in neutral activity

For most of 2026, the altcoin season index never truly broke into full “altcoin season” territory. Traders remained cautious, never over-allocating to all assets. Instead, curated or specially selected coins and tokens had their brief moments outperforming BTC and the rest of the market. 

For the past 406 days, the crypto market has been in between altcoin seasons. Historically, the longest streak without an altcoin season has reached 486 days, an indicator of a prolonged “crypto winter.” 

The sudden reversal in October, after a growing market breadth for Q3 showed trader sentiment shifted quickly. 

For the past three months, 82 out of the top 100 assets still retain their gains, though only 46 assets outperform BTC.

The selection of top gainers includes revenue-sharing tokens like HYPE or PUMP, as well as occasional outperformers like QNT and Raydium (RAY). ZCash (ZEC) is also among the outperforming assets, on a mix of spot demand and increased derivative open interest.

Altcoin market goes without deep capitulations

Despite the limited performance, 2026 to date shows a more stable altcoin market on average. The market has not shown deep capitulations, as capital flows smoothly to the latest active markets. 

October also arrived with increased geopolitical tensions. Altcoins and tokens also competed with tokenized assets, which expanded in both centralized and decentralized trading. 

As of November 2, the market also pushed more altcoins and tokens into the oversold range. ETH remains neutral, while BNB and SOL have shown more signs of being oversold.

For October, ETH erased a net 16.3% of its value, BNB lost 8.4%, while SOL is down by 18.8%. ARB, another ecosystem token, is down by over 22%. On average, altcoins and tokens lost 17% of their value in October, mostly tracking blue chip assets.

The wider top 1,000 of altcoins and tokens have also shown similar underperformance for October. For the past 30 days, 136 out of 1,000 assets are in the green, with the rest logging losses. 

For 2026 until September, market breadth had periods of improvement. The most recent Market Vector report showed that on some time frames, small cap cryptos outperformed, but over time, large-cap assets led the market. 

Following the October slowdown, the crypto market has entered another broad sell-off, based on the market weather report. 

The recent asset performance shows the crypto market can go through periods of active trading and liquidity allocation, but the classic shift to a full altcoin season and subsequent capitulation are no longer the usual model.

Instead, traders are more critical of available liquidity and market depth, as well as the potential for revenue-sharing from assets, not expecting altcoins and tokens to rise on pure hype and novelty.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.