Yesterday, the entry into altseason caused Bitcoin to suffer, while Cardano failed to take off, despite the altcoin season index rising above 75 points.
Summary
Bitcoin and Cardano: Price Analysis Comparison
In the last twelve days, the overall market capitalization of altcoins has risen by 10%, going from approximately 1.6 trillion dollars to 1.76 trillion.
However, this data also includes Ethereum and stablecoin, so it is advisable to also consider the so-called Total3, which is the total market capitalization of altcoins excluding BTC, ETH, and the main stablecoins.
The Total3 has risen by 11.5% over the last twelve days, up to yesterday’s close, indicating, for example, that Ethereum has underperformed compared to the average of other altcoins.
Well, in the same period the price of Bitcoin recorded a +5%, which is less than half the performance of Total3.
Additionally, the current price level of Bitcoin, more or less around $117,000, is in line with that of August 22, and is 6% lower compared to the all-time highs recorded just over a month ago.
In other words, after reaching new all-time highs just before mid-August, above $124,000, it underwent a small and brief correction and then effectively began a phase of lateralization, albeit slightly volatile.
This phase of lateralization is actually still ongoing, despite the +5% of the last twelve days, precisely because the recovery from the small correction at the end of August and the beginning of September is underway.
While Bitcoin moves sideways, altcoins are rising, so much so that Total3 is now at the highs of 2025, and just yesterday it recorded its all-time high above 1.7 trillion dollars.
Here is why it is possible to state that the crypto market as a whole is very strong, but Bitcoin is not.
The Trend of Cardano
One of the altcoins with the most peculiar trend is ADA of Cardano.
In the last twelve days, while Total3 rose by 11.5% and recorded its new all-time high, the price of Cardano increased by 12% but is still down by 71% from the all-time highs of 2021.
Note that compared to the beginning of the year, the price of ADA has risen only by 7%, while that of Bitcoin, for example, is at +25%.
In other words, after making a truly significant leap at the end of 2024, rising in just under a month from $0.3 to $1.4, it then experienced a strong contraction in the early months of 2025, ending only in June just above $0.5.
It is true that the bottom of 2025 was well above the starting point from which the Trump-trade began last November, but the correction was still deep compared to the local highs of 2024.
Since then, the price of Cardano has not been able to recover much, because the July rebound stopped at $0.9.
It should be noted that the all-time high of 2021 is above 3$, thus still very far even from the highs of 2025.
Moreover, the end of August correction brought it back below $0.8, therefore what is happening with Cardano is merely a rebound due to a very strong overall crypto market.
The current price of ADA is still around $0.9, which is exactly the same level as the peak from just under two months ago.
The Most Prominent Altcoins
Since Total3 is at all-time highs, there are other altcoins that are performing really well.
Ethereum, to be honest, is in a sort of middle ground, because in the last thirty days it has limited itself to a +7%, which is nothing sensational, and since the beginning of the year it is at +36%, which is not much higher than Bitcoin’s 25%.
However, it is only -8% from the all-time high recorded a month ago, in line with Bitcoin’s -6%.
So at this moment Ethereum follows Bitcoin more than the altcoins.
The main protagonists of the current bullish moment in the crypto market are BNB and Solana, among the altcoins, with a +42% and +28% respectively since the beginning of the year. While these performances are in line with those of Ethereum and Bitcoin, in the last thirty days, however, BNB is at +20% and Solana even at +34%, compared to +3% for Bitcoin and +7% for Ethereum.
Additionally, BNB has just recorded its new all-time high yesterday, surpassing $1,000 for the first time in its history. Solana, on the other hand, is still at -17% from the all-time high recorded at the beginning of the year.
In the last thirty days, Dogecoin (+28%), HyperLiquid (+33%), Avalanche (+48%), and CRO (+63%) are also performing very well. Cardano, for example, is only at +6%, less than Ethereum.
The picture is therefore much more complex than what the altcoin season index of CMC suggests.
