Data · Bybit · snapshot 27.08 18:33 UTC · classic daily, barometer every ~2 h
The classic index tells you whether altseason has already arrived: how many altcoins beat bitcoin over the past 90 days. Our Altseason Barometer next to it answers the more interesting question — whether it is brewing: where derivatives money is flowing right now, before it shows up in price.
35% of alts beat BTC over 90 days · basket: 243 alts from live Bybit perps (≥$1M daily turnover)
Canonical scale: 75+ — altcoin season, 25 and below — bitcoin season, in between — transition. Same methodology as the well-known index (share of alts outperforming BTC over 90 days), different basket — stated honestly.
Each point is the index value on that day (90-day window, computed from daily candles). This is a look backwards: the index measures what price has ALREADY done.
Price is a lagging witness: by the time the classic index crosses 75, half the move is behind you. The Barometer watches the leading traces — open interest and funding: money enters positions first, price follows.
44.6%
of the market's open money sits in alts · $4.64B of $10.41B (excl. BTC and ETH)
58.5%
of alt money pays more for longs than BTC does — a long-crowding gauge
66%
of accounts long across the TOP-10 alts by OI (Bybit, OI-weighted) — the crowd
32%
of Hyperliquid whale money in alts sits long — smart money
How to read it. Alt OI share rising — money is rotating into alts even if prices stand still. High «hot funding» — alt longs are already overpaying: fuel for a move, but overheating is closer too. Barometer history collected since 08.05.2026 — the chart grows daily and we say plainly the series is young.
Retail vs whales: 66% of crowd accounts long versus 32% of whale money — a 34 pp gap. Whoever enters first is the smart money; we log the gap daily.
The barometer line is the alt share of open interest (%, left scale). Overlays on the right scale are live prices: the real BTC price in dollars and the alt basket as a portfolio that started 90 days ago from the same point as BTC (equal-weight). Whichever of the two lines is higher is winning. Toggle lines with the buttons.
Top alts by money in top-wallet positions on Hyperliquid (on-chain, excl. BTC and ETH). Long share — how much of that money is positioned for upside.
| Coin | Money in positions | Long share |
|---|---|---|
| HYPE | $566M | 30% |
| SOL | $274M | 29% |
| XRP | $70M | 19% |
| ZEC | $64M | 39% |
| PUMP | $52M | 29% |
| LIT | $46M | 47% |
1. Alt share of open interest. The slowest and most honest needle: what percent of all open perp money sits in alts. It barely moves day to day — which is why every move is an event. Rising — traders are actually rotating capital from BTC/ETH into alts: positions open before prices move. Falling — money hides back in bitcoin, risk appetite shrinks. One honesty nuance: the share can also rise when alts stand still but BTC positions close (the denominator shrinks) — so read it together with the dollar figure next to it.
2. Hot funding. Funding is the fee for holding a position: when longs outnumber shorts, longs pay. Our needle shows in what share of alt money longs pay more than in BTC. Low (under ~40%) — nobody is piling into alts with leverage, quiet. Middle — interest without overheating. High (70%+) while prices stand still — the crowd is already leveraging into alts ahead of the move: either an early stage of a run, or fuel for a leverage flush — a sharp downside move that washes out crowded longs. The higher and longer funding stays hot, the costlier the wait and the harsher the flush.
3. Retail vs whales. Important: the bases differ — retail counts heads (accounts long), whales count money (dollars long). So don't compare the numbers head-on — read the direction and the gap itself. Whales are structurally cautious on derivatives: part of their shorts hedge spot holdings rather than bet on a crash. «Whales are short» is the norm; the signal is change: if the gap narrows because whales turn long in specific alts (see the table above) — smart money is joining the crowd's side, the strongest configuration this barometer has. If the gap stretches wider — someone is about to be wrong, and historically it is rarely the side with the billions.
| Configuration | What it may mean |
|---|---|
| Alt OI share rising · funding moderate · classic index low | the most interesting state: money quietly rotating into alts BEFORE price moves — exactly what this barometer exists for |
| Alt OI share rising · funding 70%+ · retail heavily long | overheating: fuel for a move exists, but crowd leverage is crowded — rising risk of a downside flush before continuation |
| Classic high (75+) · alt OI share already falling | altseason running out of breath: prices still celebrate while money is already leaving — late stage |
| Everything low: share flat, funding cold, whales deep short | alt winter: no preconditions in sight, waiting — and this is when a sudden move of the needles will be loudest |
What the Barometer does NOT say. It doesn't name a coin, doesn't give an entry point and doesn't promise altseason will come — it shows whether the PRECONDITIONS are forming. The series is young: we don't yet have hard historical thresholds («above X always meant Y»), and we won't invent them — we'll calibrate as history accumulates and show it honestly. An observation journal, not investment advice.
Classic: all Bybit USDT perps with ≥$1M daily turnover (273 today), keep those with a full 90-day history (243), count the share whose 90-day return beats BTC. ETH counts as an alt in the classic index (as in the canon).
Barometer: alts = everything except BTC and ETH (the money core is measured separately). Funding is normalised to daily (Bybit intervals are 1/4/8h — numbers aren't comparable without it). Same ≥$1M basket.
What is NOT here: we don't blend the two layers into one «super number». Classic is price, the Barometer is money; they are different instruments, and showing them side by side is more honest than inventing a hybrid formula.
| Series | What is measured | Source | Refresh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic index | share of alts beating BTC over 90 days | Bybit v5 daily candles, perp basket ≥$1M turnover | daily |
| Alt OI share | alt openInterestValue ÷ whole market | Bybit v5 tickers, ~225 live perps | every ~2 h |
| Hot funding | share of alt OI with daily funding above BTC | Bybit v5 tickers (fundingRate + interval) | every ~2 h |
| Retail · top-10 alts | OI-weighted share of accounts long | Bybit account-ratio, top-10 by OI | every ~2 h |
| Whales · alts | long share of whale position notional (excl. BTC/ETH) | Hyperliquid, on-chain wallet snapshots ~30 min | every ~2 h |
You'll be able to watch the index cross thresholds without refreshing this page — via a bot alert; catalogue and tiers: connect.
A period when most altcoins outperform bitcoin. The canonical yardstick is the index: if 75%+ of alts beat BTC over 90 days, the market calls it altcoin season; 25% or less — bitcoin season.
Nobody knows the date, and we don't predict it. Instead of guessing we show the preconditions: the classic index (what price has already done) and the Barometer (where money is flowing right now — open interest, funding, retail vs whales). When the needles align, it shows on this page before it shows in price.
We take all live Bybit USDT perps with at least $1M daily turnover, keep those with a full 90-day history, and count the share whose 90-day return beats bitcoin's. Updated daily; the chart shows the value for every day.
Data: Bybit v5 API (perps, funding, OI, retail long/short). Classic — daily; barometer — every ~2 hours.
Educational material and an observation journal. Not investment advice, not a call to buy or sell. Past market behaviour guarantees nothing.