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XRP Crypto traders question the claim that altcoins generally outperform Bitcoin
After comparing price data on August 22 and September 9, a cryptocurrency trader challenged the view that "altcoins generally outperform Bitcoin." At these two points in time, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is almost at the same level.
The comparison results show that the prices of most large altcoins have little fluctuations, while only a few currencies have shown significant increases.
Analysts test the performance of altcoins versus Bitcoin
Analyst Denis Liu, who goes by the name of "VirtualBacon" on Platform X (formerly Twitter), posted a post on September 9. He pointed out that arguments that altcoins broadly outperform Bitcoin are often accompanied by lengthy lists of examples, but a simpler test came to a different conclusion.
The trader selected two dates when Bitcoin prices were almost flat to compare the performance of the altcoin. As a veteran cryptocurrency, Bitcoin's price was US$78,313 on August 22 and US$78,440 on September 9, which remained basically unchanged during the 17-day cycle. Use this as a benchmark:
- Ethereum (ETH) fell 1%
- Ripple's XRP fell 2%
- DOGE (DOGE) fell 2%
- TRON (TRON) fell 1%
- Cardano (ADA) fell 3%
Among these mainstream tokens, Avalanche (AVAX) was the only exception, rising 2%.
VirtualBacon pointed out that the prices of six of the nine major altcoins are similar to their Aug. 22 levels. He believes that these tokens rose when Bitcoin rose, and then gave up most of the gains when Bitcoin stalled. "A currency that is just more volatile than Bitcoin is essentially still following Bitcoin." The trader added.
However, he also noted exceptions: Solana rose 10% over the period, BNB rose 9%, and Chainlink rose 5%.
Still, he cautioned that these gains are conditional. Market observers believe traders need to hold these currencies before the narrative is widely discussed. Waiting for the story to spread before entering may mean stepping in after most of the market has already occurred. That's why Liu said he chose to hold Bitcoin rather than chase better performing altcoins.
"I'm sitting in Bitcoin and waiting," he wrote,"not because I think the altcoin is over, not at all. But because the so-called 'altcoin outperforms bitcoin' actually only means that two or three of the currencies have done it."
Bullishness still circulating
This refutation comes as another competitive narrative is circulating in the market. Multiple parties, including analyst Matthew Hyland, claim that more than 100 top altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin in multiple time frames.
He first raised this view in July, arguing that as macro risk indicators turn bullish for the first time since the 2016-2017 and 2020-2021 cycles, altcoins are ready for years of excess performance. In addition, he also pointed to several altcoin indicators, including the Total2, Total3 and OTHERS index, which broke the downward trend of years and raised the view that "the largest altcoin bull market in history is brewing" because the open interest of altcoin perpetual contracts exceeds Bitcoin for the first time since December 2024.
Whether this layout will actually cash in is an independent question; what VirtualBacon's price check actually shows is that most of the largest altcoins on the market have barely moved during the two-and-a-half weeks of sideways trading.
