Is altcoin season truly dead? Recent data shared by Milk Road on social media highlights a stark reality for cryptocurrency traders: only 14 percent of major altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin over the last 60 days as of May 31, 2025. For a true altcoin season, or 'altseason,' to be declared, at least 75 percent of altcoins need to surpass Bitcoin's performance, a benchmark we're nowhere near hitting. Bitcoin, with its dominant market position, continues to dictate the pace, as evidenced by its price hovering around 68,000 USD on May 31, 2025, at 10:00 AM UTC, according to data from CoinGecko. This comes after Bitcoin recorded a modest 2 percent gain over the past week, while major altcoins like Ethereum (ETH) at 3,750 USD and Binance Coin (BNB) at 595 USD lagged with gains of 1.2 percent and 0.8 percent respectively during the same period. Trading volume for Bitcoin also remained robust, with over 25 billion USD in spot trading volume in the last 24 hours as of May 31, 2025, compared to Ethereum's 12 billion USD. This disparity underscores Bitcoin's control over market sentiment. Meanwhile, the stock market's recent stability, with the S&P 500 holding steady at 5,235 points on May 30, 2025, as reported by Yahoo Finance, has not provided the risk-on momentum altcoins typically need to thrive. Investors seem to prefer the relative safety of Bitcoin amid mixed economic signals, including ongoing inflation concerns.

The trading implications of this data are significant for crypto enthusiasts looking to capitalize on market movements. With Bitcoin's dominance index sitting at 54.5 percent as of May 31, 2025, at 12:00 PM UTC, per TradingView, altcoins are struggling to attract capital. This is evident in trading pairs like ETH/BTC, which dropped to 0.055 on May 31, 2025, from 0.057 a week prior, signaling Ethereum's underperformance against Bitcoin. Similarly, smaller altcoins like Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) saw their BTC pairs decline, with ADA/BTC at 0.0000065 and SOL/BTC at 0.0024 on the same date, reflecting a broader trend of capital flowing back to Bitcoin. From a stock market perspective, the lack of volatility in major indices like the Dow Jones, which closed at 38,111 points on May 30, 2025, per Bloomberg, suggests institutional investors are not rotating heavily into riskier assets like altcoins. This cautious sentiment is also mirrored in crypto markets, where altcoin trading volumes have stagnated—Solana recorded only 2.1 billion USD in 24-hour volume on May 31, 2025, compared to Bitcoin's dominance. Traders might find opportunities in shorting weaker altcoin pairs or focusing on Bitcoin-centric strategies until a catalyst shifts market dynamics.

Diving into technical indicators, Bitcoin's Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 55 on the daily chart as of May 31, 2025, at 2:00 PM UTC, indicating neutral momentum, while Ethereum's RSI lags at 48, suggesting potential oversold conditions, per CoinMarketCap data. On-chain metrics further reveal Bitcoin's strength, with over 1.2 million BTC moved in large transactions (over 100,000 USD) in the past week as of May 31, 2025, according to Glassnode, compared to Ethereum's lower whale activity. Altcoin market correlations with Bitcoin remain high, with ETH showing a 0.85 correlation coefficient and SOL at 0.78 over the past 30 days, per CryptoCompare data accessed on May 31, 2025. In terms of stock-crypto interplay, the flat performance of tech-heavy Nasdaq (closing at 16,737 on May 30, 2025, per Reuters) indicates limited institutional money flow into crypto-related stocks or ETFs like Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which saw only a 0.5 percent volume increase to 3.2 million shares traded on May 30, 2025. This suggests risk appetite remains subdued. For traders, monitoring Bitcoin's 50-day moving average at 65,000 USD could provide entry points if altcoins show signs of decoupling, but current data points to Bitcoin's continued reign. Cross-market opportunities may arise if stock market volatility spikes, potentially driving speculative capital into altcoins, though such a shift lacks immediate catalysts as of now.

In summary, the altcoin season appears dormant, with Bitcoin's grip on the market unyielding. Traders should remain vigilant for shifts in stock market sentiment or macroeconomic data releases that could alter risk dynamics. Until then, focusing on Bitcoin's price action and its trading pairs offers the most reliable path for navigating this Bitcoin-dominated landscape.