Altcoin deposits to exchanges jumped about 160% in two weeks, hitting their highest transaction count since October 2025, according to CryptoQuant. The onchain analytics firm says the move often signals that holders are preparing to sell, even as altcoins outperformed Bitcoin last week.
Altcoin exchange deposits reached a seven-day total of 78,000 transactions on Sept. 28, CryptoQuant said in a weekly report released Tuesday. That marks the highest count since October 2025 and comes up about 160% from around 29,800 on Sept. 14.
Deposits nearly triple in two weeks
According to CryptoQuant: "Altcoin exchange inflows have exploded to their highest levels since Bitcoin's last all-time high." The number of addresses sending altcoins to exchanges almost tripled from around 17,600 to 51,600 between Sept. 14 and Sept. 28, also the highest tally in nearly a year. On Binance, weekly average deposits climbed above 22,700, while Coinbase deposits exceeded 8,300, with roughly 32,000 more transactions spread across other platforms.
CryptoQuant described the increase as broad-based, noting that holders moving coins to exchanges usually intend to sell.
Bitcoin dominance holds steady as altcoins gain
Bitcoin has pulled back since briefly topping $87,000 last week for the first time since January. Meanwhile, Glassnode's Altcoin Cycle Signal, which tracks price data for the 250 largest altcoins excluding stablecoins, favored altcoins over Bitcoin last week.
Bitcoin's share of total crypto market capitalization stood below 60%, and dominance has stayed between 58% and 60.4% since May 27, according to TradingView data. Crypto assets outside the top ten by market cap accounted for 9% of the total on Sept. 27, their highest share since February.
A warning sign beneath the rally
The broader altcoin market has still absorbed over $371 billion in inflows since June 2026, a 45% increase over roughly four months, as measured by the Total2 metric. But that metric now shows a bearish RSI divergence: prices have made higher highs while the relative strength index has made lower highs, a pattern that suggests the momentum behind the rally may be fading.
Current deposit activity remains below the July 2026 peak of nearly 45,000 daily transactions, so the trajectory from here, not just the current level, will determine whether this marks healthy profit-taking or the start of steeper pressure.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Crypto Briefing
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