The crypto market may feel heavy and directionless right now, but the latest structural signals suggest something very different is forming beneath the surface. A new chart shared by Merlijn The Trader highlights a setup that has preceded every major altcoin cycle of the past decade, and the same alignment is taking shape again.
At the center of this pattern is the relationship between Bitcoin dominance (BTC.D) and the ETH/BTC pair. Whenever ETH approaches its macro reversal zone while BTC.D loses support, capital rotation has followed with near-perfect reliability. We saw this dynamic in 2017, again in 2021, and the chart shows an almost identical configuration today.
The visual makes the story clear. BTC dominance, shown in orange, has approached a long-standing diagonal resistance line. Each red circle marks the moment dominance reversed sharply lower. Those reversals always occurred while ETH/BTC, plotted in blue, was bottoming out at cyclical lows. What came next was consistent: a multi-month altcoin rally fueled by the shift of liquidity away from Bitcoin and toward higher-beta assets.
The chart’s green zones mark previous altcoin seasons. In each case, they began immediately after BTC.D broke down and ETH/BTC curled upward from deeply oversold territory. The current position of both indicators mirrors those earlier turning points with surprising precision, suggesting the rotation phase may be much closer than sentiment implies. ETH/BTC is sitting at a historical support area, while Bitcoin dominance is showing early signs of fatigue.
Right now, traders are overwhelmed by bearish noise, fading liquidity, macro uncertainty, and aggressive selling across majors. But cycles often flip when the crowd is least prepared, and the structure unfolding behind the scenes is becoming difficult to ignore. If BTC.D rolls over from this level, capital will not remain idle. As seen in prior cycles, altcoins tend to explode once Bitcoin stalls and dominance breaks its trend.
The setup does not guarantee an immediate rally, but the historical consistency is notable. Every time these two indicators aligned, the market delivered one of crypto’s strongest rotation phases. The signals are lining up again, even if retail sentiment still lags behind.
If the pattern plays out one more time, these next few weeks could mark the beginning of a new altcoin season, arriving exactly when the broader market feels most uncertain.