[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] Some altcoins such as Worldcoin (WLD), Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Jito (JTO) have posted notable gains recently, but an analysis said it is still difficult to view the broader market as being in an “altcoin season.”

According to blockchain media outlet CryptoSlate on June 20 (local time), the market share of the group of altcoins excluding bitcoin, ether and stablecoins fell over the past month to 21.16 percent from 21.41 percent. The decline is larger compared with 23.55 percent recorded at the start of the year.

Some tokens posted eye-catching returns. Over the past month, WLD surged 149.6 percent, Stellar (XLM) rose 54 percent and Jito (JTO) gained 46.7 percent. Hyperliquid (HYPE) hit $77 on June 16, marking a record high. Near Protocol (NEAR) rose 28.3 percent, Lit (LIT) gained 31 percent and Aerodrome Finance (AERO) added 17.6 percent.

Over the past 7 days, JTO rose 42.5 percent, AERO gained 36.8 percent and WLD climbed 33 percent. Uniswap (UNI), Stellar (XLM), Aave (AAVE), Jupiter (JUP) and Ethena (ENA) also posted double-digit gains.

But the strength did not spread across the overall altcoin market. Over the same period, bitcoin’s market share slipped to 56.96 percent from 58.16 percent, but the money that moved out flowed into stablecoins rather than altcoins. Stablecoins’ share rose to 12.53 percent from 10.79 percent. An interpretation has emerged that it was closer to a rise in sidelined funds than a spread of risk-on sentiment across altcoins.

Spot-market data also show similar signals. According to CryptoQuant tallies, the altcoin market logged net spot selling for 15 consecutive months. The cumulative gap between buy and sell trading volume was net selling of $240 billion, the deepest negative level since the related statistics began in 2020. The indicator recovered to around neutral levels briefly in early 2025, but has worsened again this year. Each time the market rebounded, spot selling absorbed the upswing.

Tokens that surged recently each had clear, individual positive catalysts. WLD drew attention as an artificial intelligence (AI) theme asset after AITCO Holdings disclosed that it held more than 283 million WLD and revealed exposure linked to OpenAI.

XLM benefited from expanding tokenisation of real-world assets (RWA). Based on RWA.xyz, the value of tokenised assets on the Stellar network stood at about $2.83 billion, up 21.6 percent over the past 30 days.

JTO reflected expectations for the launch of JTX, a trading interface based on the Solana ecosystem, while AERO rose as derivatives trading volume surged alongside growth of the Base ecosystem.

HYPE also set a record high on the back of expanding protocol revenue and rising trading volume. Hyperliquid’s cumulative perpetual futures trading volume amounts to trillions of dollars, and its open interest has also topped $9 billion.

Despite such token-specific strength, the overall altcoin market share remains near bottom levels. In the market, the current phase is seen more as a “selective rally” than an “altcoin season.”

In a bearish scenario, there is also a view that some sharply rising tokens could act as exit liquidity, pushing altcoins’ share down further to around 20.5 percent. Conversely, stablecoins’ share could expand to around 14 to 15 percent.

The macroeconomic environment is also a burden. Many U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision-makers are leaving open the possibility of rate hikes in 2026, and the benchmark rate is being held at around 3.50 to 3.75 percent. Inflation projections were also revised up. An analysis has also emerged that as investment funds flow into AI- and semiconductor-related assets, high-risk assets such as altcoins are being pushed down the list of investor interests.

Market participants say that for an altcoin season to take hold, altcoins’ share needs to recover to at least 22.5 percent and approach the start-of-year level of 23.55 percent. They also assess that, along with a decline in stablecoin share, CryptoQuant’s spot buy-sell indicator must also show improvement for several weeks. The industry analyses that the market is currently moving around individual narratives and catalysts rather than the altcoin market as a whole.

WLD’s AI theme, HYPE’s protocol revenue growth, JTO’s Solana infrastructure expectations and XLM’s expansion in real-world assets each served as bullish catalysts, but there are indications that inflows large enough to lift the overall altcoin market have not yet been confirmed.