Altcoin selling pressure reaches five-year extreme on spot markets

Selling pressure on altcoins reaches a five-year extreme. According to CryptoQuant analyst IT Tech, the spot market has shown net selling for fifteen consecutive months, and the cumulative buy/sell difference for altcoins has sunk to the deepest negative point since data began in 2020.

Altcoins are available at Bitvavo and Bybit.

Five years of data points to historic low

The chart from CryptoQuant shows the cumulative buy/sell volume difference for altcoins excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum over the past twelve months. This indicator is currently plunging to the lowest level ever measured, well below -$240 billion. By way of comparison: at the beginning of 2025, the indicator seemed to be almost returning to a neutral level, but then a sharp decline set in that continues to this day.

This means that on centralised exchanges, there is structurally more selling than buying in the altcoin market. The downward movement is not abrupt, but the result of a prolonged pattern of fifteen consecutive months of net selling. This makes the current situation unique in the available measurement history.

Bitcoin holds steady while altcoins sink further

Strikingly, the Bitcoin price is currently trading around $64K, a decline of 2.6% in the past 24 hours. Yet Bitcoin’s correction pales in comparison to the ongoing outflow from altcoins. The situation suggests that investors are rotating capital towards Bitcoin or simply exiting the altcoin market, while the broader crypto market is under pressure. Earlier, Bitcoin demand also reached a record negative level, indicating that the weakness is broader than just altcoins.

The full analysis by IT Tech can be read via CryptoQuant. Whether this extreme selling pressure will form a bottom in the long run, or whether further declines will follow, remains uncertain for now. What is clear: the altcoin market is experiencing one of the toughest periods in its recent history.