I would divide the altcoin move into 4 stages:

1️⃣ ETH and major altcoins

First, ETH usually starts to wake up. Currently, ETH is already showing a noticeable strengthening versus BTC: ETH/BTC is up by about 32% from the June low.

2️⃣ XRP / SOL / BNB and other major coins

After ETH, capital starts looking for higher returns. For example, as of August 27, SOL is showing about +23% for the week, XRP about +17%, and BNB about +10%.

3️⃣ Medium capitalization

This is where things could get really interesting. When major alts have already grown a lot, capital starts flowing into projects with lower capitalization. This is where moves of +50%, +100% and more are possible, but the risk of a correction is also much higher.

4️⃣ Low-cap / memes / hype tokens

This is usually the final and most insane stage. If we see mass pumps of little-known coins, huge volumes, and FOMO, that will be a sign that the alt-cycle is already in a late stage.

My script

Right now I’d call what’s happening not a full-blown Altseason, but an early stage of capital rotation into altcoins.

If BTC continues to hold high and its dominance starts to steadily decline from ~60%, then the next wave could open up:

BTC → ETH → XRP/SOL/BNB → major alts → mid-cap → low-cap.$BTR

I’d specifically be tracking mid-cap alts right now: potentially, that’s where the highest returns of the next wave are, but entering after a vertical pump is significantly more risky.