Crypto is rising, but has the capital really moved into Altcoins?

As of August 20 Beijing time, the market looks more like “core assets absorbing liquidity first” rather than fully entering an altcoin season. BTC is still the primary safe-haven and institutional allocation entry point for capital, while ETH is in a phase of observation and capital accumulation. Signs of a truly large-scale spread into Altcoins are still not obvious.

Stablecoins are a key indicator. Capital hasn’t disappeared; instead, it remains in large amounts in the form of stablecoins within trading, lending, and on-chain liquidity pools. In other words, what the market may lack now is not “money,” but the certainty that allows capital to take on higher risk.

From a Sector perspective, DeFi, RWA, and DEX are more worth watching than a simple trade-narrative. Solana continued to lead in DEX trading volume in Q2 2026, which suggests on-chain trading demand is still there; RWA continues to attract attention from institutions and traditional financial infrastructure. (Galaxy)

AI still has high attention, but “attention” doesn’t equal “real money.” Data from Q1 shows AI remains one of the most watched areas in the market, while interest in RWA, stablecoins, DeFi, and DEX is gradually becoming more dispersed. (CoinGecko Assets)

So why does the market rise while altcoins remain weak?

The core reason may be that capital is being filtered, not broadly dispersed.

For BTC to rise, only a small amount of new capital is needed; but altcoins require stronger risk appetite, higher trading volume, and sustained on-chain demand. Once capital doesn’t move from BTC further into ETH, and then from ETH spreads into the Sector, most altcoins will find it hard to form a持续行情 (sustained uptrend).

So what’s really worth watching now isn’t “when the Altseason will come,” but three signals:

Has BTC capital started to spread into ETH?

Are stablecoin supply and on-chain activity growing at the same time?

Are DeFi, RWA, and DEX generating sustained real revenue—not just short-term trading volume?

Only if these three signals appear at the same time can the market gradually shift from a “core asset rally” to “Sector rotation.”

Do you think the next round of real funding will first flow into ETH, or will it bypass ETH and go directly into RWA, DeFi, and DEX?

Feel free to leave a comment and share your view.

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