The chances of a strong rally in the fourth quarter are high after Bitcoin (BTC) returned to prices above $65,000, according to a cryptocurrency analyst.
“The likelihood of a strong rally in Q4 is high, with earnings likely to be pushed up early,” Markus Thielen, Director of Research at 10x Research, emphasized in a September 27 report on Bitcoin News.
Altcoin FOMO returns as Bitcoin hits $65,000
Thielen believes that Bitcoin’s move above $65,000 has “sparked” FOMO back into the altcoin market. “A big rally could be on the horizon, causing FOMO to spread across the crypto space,” Thielen added. At the time of publication, Bitcoin was trading at $65,424, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
According to Capriole Investments’ Altcoin Speculative Index, this figure has increased to 23%, representing a 13% increase over the past 30 days. The index tracks the percentage of altcoins that have outperformed Bitcoin over 90 days, with higher numbers indicating increased speculation in the market.
Sei (SEI) leads the list of top 100 cryptocurrencies with gains over the past seven days since September 20, surging 37.79%, followed by Wormhole (W) up 32.83%, and Shiba Inu (SHIB) up 32.08%.
Shiba has become a popular investment among Korean retail investors this week, Thielen said.
“In the past 24 hours, Shiba Inu has regained the number one position in trading volume in Korea, showing that speculation is increasing and setting the stage for a strong rally in the fourth quarter.”
Amid the altcoin market rally, Bitcoin Dominance has declined slightly since September 20, down about 1.57% to 57.51%, according to data from TradingView.
This indicator is often used by traders to gauge potential capital movements from Bitcoin to altcoins.
Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has increased by 11 points since September 26, reaching “Greed” with a score of 61.
Rate cuts will further increase interest in altcoins
According to Thielen, if the US Federal Reserve “remains open to rate cuts,” high-beta altcoins will likely gain momentum.
His comments came shortly after the Fed’s decision on September 18 to cut interest rates by another 50 basis points, a positive sign for risk assets. Lower interest rates make traditional investments such as bonds and time deposits less attractive to investors.
Many crypto analysts have suggested on social media that this is just the beginning of the altcoin's strong rally, predicting larger gains in the future.
“Altcoins are waking up significantly, but this is just a prelude to what we will see in the next 6 months,” Michael van de Poppe, founder of MN Trading, said in a September 27 post on X.
“It would be great. It already is,” added van de Poppe.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Joe McCann commented that “90% of all altcoins on Binance are trading above their 50-day moving average.
“Altcoins are about to break a long-term downtrend,” added crypto analyst Miles Deutcher.