Less than ten years ago, knowing 100 crypto projects made you a deep expert in the field.

Now we've got 36.4 million altcoins on the market, and nobody on Earth can possible name the majority of them.

That's not a typo by the way – we're drowning in tokens, and some of crypto's sharpest minds think it might kill altcoin season for good.

From Thousands to Millions

Let's put this insane Cambrian explosion of tokens into perspective. 

2013 had fewer than 500 coins. 

The 2017 bull run saw under 3,000 in existance. 

Now, just eight years later, we're sitting at 36.4 million. 

Ali Martinez isn't mincing words, claiming that the velocity of this token creation blitz means that the traditional altcoin season we all know and love might just be impossible now.

Alex Krüger's also helping bring some context, breaking it down to economics 101 – supply is basically crushing demand. 

Future alt rallies might last days or weeks, not months. 

When there's a new token every minute, how do you pick winners?

Quality Takes a Hit

Ash Crypto is calling out exchanges for chasing volume over value by listing these tokens. 

The result has so far been retail traders getting burned and leaving the space entirely or aping more of their hard-earned money into the next digital lottery ticket. 

We've seen a cycle before, but never at this scale, speed, and intensity. 

Previous cycles had a much higher retention rate, as even projects that dropped 99% stayed around to try and pick up the piece and build something out of the ashes. 

Now, all of that can happen in a month or less (sometimes days), and the staying power just isn’t there to motivate folks to stick around.

Bitcoin Is Still King

While alts struggle, Bitcoin has doubled to $2.07 trillion. 

The total altcoin market, however, remains stuck at $1.6 trillion, still 15.8% below December's peak. 

Smart money is talking, and it's speaking Bitcoin.

Sure, all of the mania seems glamorous, but it’s mostly just been existing capital shuffling around the industry. 

But Michaël van de Poppe sees hope in utility coins and thinks Ethereum might lead "the most hated rally of 2025." 

CryptoQuant's Ki Young Ju agrees – coins with real use cases could survive this flood, and whether you love it or hate it, Ethereum tops that list.

Context is Everything for Altcoins

We're just not seeing the same market cycles that we have in the past – we have to accept that we’re watching an evolution in the market structure unfold in real time. 

The age of "buy any quality alt and profit" might be over, but something more interesting could be emerging: a market that rewards utility over hype.

The next bull run won't look like 2021. It mathematically can’t. 

With 36.4 million competitors, tokens need more than cute logos and Twitter hype. They need real use cases, real users, and real value.

The question isn't whether altcoin season is dead – it's what comes after it.