Altcoin season fails to materialise despite bitcoin ETF outflows; demand concentrates in ETH, XRP, SOL

More than $120 million flowed out of bitcoin (BTC) spot ETFs on a day when ETFs tied to ether (ETH), XRP and solana (SOL) drew about $59 million of inflows. The shift in money, however, did not appear to lead to broader strength across the altcoin market.

On Sept. 10 (local time), blockchain media outlet CryptoSlate reported that bitcoin spot ETFs in the U.S. market posted net outflows of $120.24 million on Sept. 9. Ether ETFs took in $34.75 million, XRP products drew $12.29 million and solana ETFs saw $11.73 million in inflows. Total net inflows for the three assets that day reached $58.77 million.

A notable point was that the direction of flows out of bitcoin and into altcoin ETFs was different. Still, the net outflow from bitcoin ETFs and net inflows to the three altcoin ETFs alone make it difficult to conclude that money that left bitcoin moved directly into ether, XRP and solana. Even so, it was confirmed that demand moved in different directions among regulated major cryptocurrency products.

The issue is that this trend is not spreading across the overall cryptocurrency market. BlockchainCenter’s altcoin season index stood at 37 as of Sept. 9. The index defines an altcoin season when more than 75 percent of the top 50 eligible cryptocurrencies have posted higher returns than bitcoin over the past 90 days. The current reading falls well short of the 75 threshold. That means Wall Street money is moving into some altcoins, but broad-based rotation into altcoins is not appearing across the wider market.