I was chatting with a few friends in the crypto circle recently and found that many people are still holding onto altcoins, fantasizing about the arrival of a "Altcoin Season." But looking at the current market conditions, that idea is a bit too optimistic.

Since last year, the performance of altcoins has indeed been disappointing. I checked the data, and the number of altcoins that have actually broken through their all-time highs is very small. Most are either stagnating or dropping to levels where you can't see the bottom. Especially after the decline on October 11th, a bunch of altcoins lost several months' worth of gains in just one day, with some people's principal completely wiped out.

Why is this happening? Frankly, the current market environment simply can't support an "Altcoin Season." In the past, altcoins could generally rise because there was hot money flowing into the market, and retail investors were willing to take risks and enter. But now, the global economic growth is sluggish, U.S. debt levels are increasingly outrageous, and funds are being pulled out everywhere, including the crypto space.

Altcoins themselves are less resilient than mainstream coins; they are the first to be cut when there's any market turbulence. The most painful part is that no new funds are coming in now. Retail investors, who were burned badly before, are either holding onto their money tightly or only daring to buy top-tier coins like BTC and ETH. The problem is, without retail funds flowing into altcoins, they simply can't rise, and there won't be a broad rally.

Looking at the current comparison makes it clear—BTC and ETH have long broken their all-time highs, but other altcoins remain stagnant. This alone says everything.

Here are three practical and solid pieces of advice for those wanting to participate at this stage:

**First, prioritize core assets.** Allocate 80% of your principal to BTC and ETH. These mainstream coins have stronger resilience against declines, and even if they fall, they have the capacity to rebound, unlike altcoins which could become worthless overnight.

**Second, be very cautious with altcoins.** If you really want to try your luck with altcoins, only allocate up to 5% of your total principal. And be sure to choose projects with real use cases, such as those with actual utility in on-chain ecosystems. Never touch meme coins that only talk about stories and have no real value.

**Third, don't obsess over waiting for a mythic turnaround.** The crypto world is no longer in an era where "the bull market is coming, everyone can make money." Stories of getting rich quick are becoming rarer. Instead of holding onto altcoins and hoping for a turnaround, focus on the mainstream coins' swing trading opportunities. For example, when BTC pulls back to a key support level, make small entries—this strategy is actually more stable.