[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Ethereum has risen more than 31 percent over the past seven days, showing a strong rebound, but key indicators still point to the broader market not having entered an “altcoin season.”

On Aug. 24 (local time), blockchain media outlet Cryptopolitan reported that Ethereum was trading at about $2,470, up roughly 30 percent on the week.

Over the same period, bitcoin rose 22.68 percent to about $78,600. Some tokens gained more than Ethereum. XRP climbed about 48 percent and Zcash (ZEC) rose about 64 percent. While some major altcoins posted sharp short-term gains, it is hard to say the rally has spread broadly across the market.

Fund flows also failed to shake bitcoin’s lead. Bitcoin kept a share of more than 59 percent of the overall cryptocurrency market, while Ethereum’s share remained around 11.4 percent.

Market sentiment was close to an overheated zone. CoinMarketCap’s fear and greed index stood at 80 out of 100.

A key yardstick for determining an altcoin season is the criteria presented by CoinMarketCap and BlockchainCenter. CoinMarketCap defines an altcoin season as a period when more than 75 percent of the top 100 coins outperform bitcoin over 90 days. Conversely, it classifies a bitcoin season when only 25 percent or fewer beat bitcoin.

BlockchainCenter uses a similar approach. More than 75 percent of the top 50 coins must outperform bitcoin over 90 days. The indicator is currently 43, below the altcoin-season threshold. By BlockchainCenter’s count, more than 332 days have passed since the last altcoin season. Both indicators exclude stablecoins such as Tether and asset-linked tokens such as WBTC and stETH.

On-chain data showed some signals of improving sentiment. On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said on X, formerly Twitter, that the altcoin market had entered an optimistic phase. It said 85 percent of all altcoins posted funding rates above their averages, the highest level since October 2025 when bitcoin traded at its all-time high (ATH). It added that such conditions can persist for several weeks during an altcoin season.

Some in the market also said Ethereum could be at the center of this rebound. Arthur Hayes (아서 헤이즈), co-founder of BitMEX, said Ethereum is currently his second-largest holding after bitcoin. He said Ethereum has room to catch up because it has not yet recovered its 2021 high, and that the risk of its value converging to zero is far lower than for small tokens. He also said that if it clearly breaks above $3,000, it could rise past $5,000.

In another interview, Hayes also said Ethereum could deliver stronger performance than other major assets in this liquidity-driven rebound. He also forecast bitcoin dominance could fall to around 40 percent.

Still, it is hard to conclude there is an altcoin season based on recent moves alone. The altcoin-season indicator stood at 49 in June, and on June 30 more than 84 percent of altcoins traded below their 200-day moving averages. CryptoQuant analyst Darkfrost said at the time that altcoins were still maintaining a high correlation with bitcoin. Such conditions could lead to a market where only some highly liquid tokens rise briefly.

As a result, Ethereum’s sharp rise is a clear bullish signal, but it is still hard to call it a broad rotational rally across the market. Since a short-term rally and an altcoin season are different concepts, key points to watch will be altcoins’ relative returns against bitcoin and changes in bitcoin dominance.