@iceforge
Total3 the market cap excluding BTC and ETH barely pushed above its 2021 peak in 2025, even though the number of tokens exploded. Most of the “growth” came from more projects, not higher prices. Plenty of alts are still far below their 2021 highs.
So will we get another wave in Q1 2026? There’s no clear answer. Liquidity is thin, volatility is huge, and one sharp move can send the whole market flying just like the brutal 10/10/2025 liquidation event, which felt less like a cycle reset and more like a liquidity grab. Outside of BTC and ETH, even tiny leverage ratios were enough to wipe people out.
It’s a reminder that in a fragile market, structure matters as much as sentiment.
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