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Bitcoin dominance has fallen to 55.81%, down from its November 2024 high of 61.53%. Bitcoin’s declining dominance has set the stage for altcoin season, with more than 75% of the top 100 altcoins consistently outperforming Bitcoin. Let’s dive into the 10 best altcoins that beginners can buy in December 2024.
Why Bitcoin Dominance Matters to Altcoin Traders
Bitcoin (Bitcoin) Dominance is a percentage measure of how much of a cryptocurrency’s total market capitalization belongs to BTC. This is an important metric for traders because it helps determine how capital is distributed between Bitcoin and altcoins.
At 55.81%, more than half of the total cryptocurrency market cap belongs to Bitcoin and the rest of the capital is likely to flow into altcoins. A decline in Bitcoin dominance during bull markets is usually a sign of potentially higher returns on altcoins. Therefore Bitcoin dominance is used to identify altcoin trading opportunities.
Bitcoin’s dominance suddenly declines, signaling the start of the altcoin season, a time period in which over 75% of the top 100 altcoins consistently outperform Bitcoin on a 90-day time frame. The shift in capital flow is occurring, and traders are taking advantage of the opportunity by reducing exposure to BTC while investing in highly liquid altcoins.
The Bitcoin dominance chart on TradingView shows a downside potential of approximately 5% to the confluence of the 100 and 200 day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at 53%.
What makes an altcoin worth investing in?
In order to make the most of the alt season, beginners need to consider these five points as a checklist when purchasing alt currency.
Primary use case and utility
The purpose and real-world use case of an altcoin is one of the most important points to consider before purchasing a token. Questions to consider are: What is the real-world use case? How does blockchain and token technology simplify the current problem? What is the unique value proposition of an altcoin?
Two altcoins that fit the criteria and rank among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap are Polygon (Matic) and Chainlink (connection). MATIC is a layer 2 scaling solution that allows users to make faster and cheaper transactions while leveraging Ethereum (Ethereum) as the basic security layer.
Chainlink connects smart contracts to real-world data and finds utility in traditional and decentralized financial institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges, and banks.
Useless tokens may result in short-term gains; However, once the hype surrounding the project ends, most token holders typically face unrealized losses.
Market value and liquidity
The market capitalization of an altcoin is a measure of the size of the project and its importance among traders. Projects with large market capitalization such as Ethereum and Binance Coin (BNB Bank) are typically considered safer than other altcoins, but the potential for price gains is low to moderate in most cases. But mid- and small-cap projects, memecoins on Base, and Ripple (XRP) has a relatively higher potential for higher risk gains.
Liquidity ensures that traders can exit in the event of significant price fluctuations or corrections.
litecoin (ltc) is an altcoin with a large market cap, known for its strong liquidity, and has been considered the “silver” to Bitcoin’s “gold” since its inception.
Apartments (APT) is a mid-cap token that focuses on scalability and security.
Development activity and team transparency
Evaluating the team behind the project and monitoring ongoing developments are essential steps to ensuring a committed team to the token.
Tracking the progress of the roadmap, determining whether the team is credible within the blockchain community, and following Discord or X commentary on the project are other effective methods.
cardano (Ada) is very popular in the cryptocurrency community due to its rigorous academic curriculum and has one of the most active developer communities.
optimism (O.P), an Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution, has consistent updates and a transparent development team.
Community support and adoption
Most meme coins that are criticized for lack of utility make up for it with support from a strong online community. This is evidenced by the address activity, trade volume, copy/storage participation and airdrops announced by the project.
Altcoins that have community support have a relatively larger number of supporters on forums like Reddit, X, or Telegram. Tracking project partnerships and integrations is another way to determine a token’s importance and adoption among market participants.
Solana (Sol) delivered double-digit gains for holders this market cycle, upending Ethereum in transaction volume on decentralized exchanges and protocol revenue in October and November 2024.
Dogecoin (Doug) started out as a meme coin, but strong community support has contributed to increased adoption of microtransactions and transformation across the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Risk management: volatility and regulatory landscape
Altcoins are inherently riskier than Bitcoin, so beginners should evaluate volatility through historical price movements, list on exchanges with clear listing standards and existing regulations and court cases in the US and other economies.
XRP is rising despite ongoing regulatory scrutiny, as it remains a popular altcoin for cross-border payments with a clear use case on XRPLedger.
excellent (XLM) Similar to XRP, Stellar focuses on cross-border payments and the development of central bank digital currencies, with regulatory clarity.
Top 10 Altcoins You Can Buy in December 2024 to Prepare for 2025
Solana (Sunday)
Solana is a top-tier token that competes with Ethereum and outperforms the latter on several metrics this cycle. From decentralized exchange volume to protocol revenue and daily active users, Solana has flipped Ethereum, fueling a “flip” story as SOL’s market capitalization exceeds that of ETH.
Between $200 and $210 is the ideal buy zone for marginal traders, and resistance is the 2024 peak and the psychologically important $300 level. The target is $359 when SOL enters price discovery in this cycle.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum will likely outperform Solana, at least in the short term, based on on-chain metrics from derivatives trading platforms like Binance. The ETH/USDT weekly price chart shows a cup and handle formation with a measured movement target of $7,000.
Ether’s buy zone is between $3,200 and $3,600, with the all-time high and key resistance level at $4,878.
Aptos (APT)
Aptos is forming a cup and handle in the weekly price chart. The buy zone for marginal traders and new entrants is between $11.37 and $13.50. The main resistance level is $17.86, and the target for the session is $28.37.
Tonquin (tons)
Tonquin You noticed a W formation on the weekly price chart, and the buy zone is between $4.091 and $6. TON is facing resistance at $8,288, and the target for the session is the 1.618 Fib retracement of the rise from the May 2023 low to the 2024 high of $12,791.
Caspian Sea (What)
Kaspa’s buy zone is between the 50-day EMA at $0.13506 and $0.15397. KAS can rise to the resistance at $0.20009 and the target at $0.29098. The Tier 1 token could expand its gains in this cycle alongside Bitcoin and other altcoins.
injection (Eng)
Among AI tokens, Injective is within a buy zone extending from the 50-day EMA at $22.94 to $32.39. INJ is facing resistance at the 2024 peak at $53.02, the session target is $77.41, and the 161.80% Fibonacci retracement level of the rally is at $53.02.
makes (Render)
Render is within the buy zone between $6.6178 and $8.4950, which is the 50% Fibonacci retracement level of the RNDR low of 2024. The token target for the session is expected to be $19.9836, and INJ is facing resistance at $13.6330.
Brett (Brett)
Among the meme coins, the base-based Brit coin is a token that can increase its gains in this cycle. BRETT could break the previous resistance at $0.23617 to rise towards the target at $0.34559. The buy zone is between $0.15 and $0.18.
gigachad (giga)
Gigachad is another memecoin that, while it ranks closer to 250 in terms of market cap, the token could further its gains this cycle. GIGA is currently inside the buy zone, below the 50% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.042699.
GIGA session target is $0.121855 and resistance is $0.078100.
Arwaif (AR)
The native token of the decentralized data storage protocol, related to both the AI and DeFi narrative, the AR buy zone lies between the 100-day moving average at $20.98 and the 50% Fibonacci retracement of the rise to the 2024 peak, at $49.55.
Strategic considerations and risks
The total cryptocurrency market cap is a key metric used to determine what to expect from a portfolio consisting of the 10 altcoins mentioned above. Based on forecasts, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies excluding Bitcoin could rise to $4.47 trillion.
An increase to expected levels indicates the potential for double-digit gains in the portfolio with the top 10 altcoins listed above. Factors such as the duration of the swing season, Bitcoin performance, institutional investor interest, and capital inflow can affect the market capitalization.
Traders can expect gains of between 2X and 3X in this cycle, at the entry points marked in the weekly charts above.
Disclosure: This article does not constitute investment advice. The content and materials contained on this page are for educational purposes only.
