Altcoin season may be on the horizon as key narratives gain momentum in the crypto space. AI tokens and meme coins are capturing the spotlight, driving 50.4% of the narrative mindshare and signaling a shift in investor focus.

This trend is complemented by the rising market cap of altcoins, now at $837 billion, its highest level since early 2022. With altcoins still 35% below their peak, the stage is set for significant growth as capital flows away from BTC and ETH into emerging opportunities.

Memes and AI Leading the Narrative Mindshare

The emergence of strong narratives often signals the start of an altseason. When distinct themes gain traction, they drive attention and capital away from major players like BTC and ETH.

Currently, AI and meme coins are leading the way, capturing 50.4% of the narrative mindshare in the crypto space. This reflects a growing shift in focus toward these themes, setting the stage for broader altcoin season momentum.

AI coins lead with 27.76% of the narrative share, while memes trail at 22.64%, highlighting rising user interest in specific categories. As both narratives gain traction, capital is likely to move into altcoins. This could reduce BTC and ETH dominance, benefiting the overall altcoin market.

Altseason Could Spark a 35% Growth

The current market cap of crypto, excluding BTC and ETH, has reached $837 billion. This is the highest value since early 2022, reflecting a resurgence in interest for altcoins.

Despite this growth, the figure remains significantly below its peak of $1.13 trillion in November 2021, highlighting room for further recovery.

At 35% below its all-time high, the altcoin market still appears undervalued compared to the broader crypto space. This gap suggests the potential for a significant surge as investors rotate capital from BTC and ETH into alternative coins.

With rising interest in new opportunities, altcoins could see substantial growth in the coming weeks, sparking a new altseason for this cycle.

The Ethereum address attributed to Vitalik Buterin has moved 32 ETH to Base and minted 400 Patron NFTs. These NFTs are part of the Truemarkets Fair launch, where over 40% of the TRUE token supply will be allocated to Patron holders during the upcoming token generation event (TGE). 

Infinex, a decentralized trading platform from Synthetix, previously raised $65.3 million through the sale of Patron NFTs. 

Does Vitalik Buterin’s Alleged Transaction Signal an NFT Comeback?

The transaction from the ‘vitalik.eth’ address has fueled optimism within the community about a potential NFT comeback in the current bull market. The broader crypto market has shown a strong upward trend, leading some to hope for a revival of the 2021 NFT boom. 

During that time, NFTs like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) fetched millions. Recent price surges suggest renewed interest, with BAYC floor prices more than doubling in weeks. 

Similarly, the cheapest CryptoPunks now trade for around $112,000, with the collection’s total market value exceeding $1.6 billion. Rare pieces from these collections continue to command significantly higher prices.

Despite these signs of revival, the NFT market has struggled throughout 2024. Data shows that 98% of NFT collections saw minimal trading activity, reflecting a saturated market. 

Only 0.2% of NFT drops were profitable, with most losing over half their value within days, signaling a challenging environment for investors.

Meanwhile, Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, surpassed 1 billion transactions within a year. However, its commemorative NFT sparked controversy for allegedly copying digital artist Chris Biron’s work. 

In response, Base apologized, committed the NFT proceeds to Biron, and pledged to improve its vetting process.

Also, earlier this month, blockchain investigator ZachXBT’s NFT project inadvertently created a $15 million meme coin due to Zora protocol’s auto-generated ERC-20 feature. Although intended as an archival project, it has since become the subject of speculative trading.

HBAR, the native cryptocurrency of the Hedera Hashgraph network, has seen a meteoric rise of over 180% in the past week. It currently trades at $0.13, a price high last observed in April 2024. 

However, this rapid ascent has pushed the token’s price into overbought territory. This overextension suggests that a price correction may be imminent for the HBAR token.

Hedera Traders Overextends Its Price

Readings from HBAR’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) confirm that its market is overheated. As of this writing, the indicator stands at 92.35, its all-time high. 

The RSI measures an asset’s overbought and oversold market conditions. It ranges between 0 and 100, with values above 70 suggesting that the asset is overbought and due for a decline. In contrast, values under 30 indicate that the asset is oversold and may experience a rebound. 

HBAR’s RSI reading of 92.35 indicates that it is in extremely overbought territory. It suggests that HBAR buyers have significantly outpaced sellers, driving the price to an unsustainable level.  While the asset’s price can continue rising in the short term, such a high RSI often precedes a correction or pullback.

Further, HBAR’s price has breached the upper band of its Bollinger Bands indicator, also confirming that it is overbought among market participants. 

The Bollinger Bands indicator measures market volatility and identifies potential buy and sell signals. It consists of three main components: the middle band, the upper band, and the lower band. 

The middle band is a 20-period moving average that serves as a baseline for the price trend. The upper band is calculated as the middle band plus two standard deviations of the price, accounting for price volatility above the moving average. The lower band is the middle band minus two standard deviations of the price, representing volatility below the moving average.

When the price trades above the upper band, it often suggests that the asset is overbought, as it has moved significantly higher than its average price. This could indicate the possibility of a price pullback.

HBAR Price Prediction: A Pullback Is Imminent

Once buyers’ exhaustion sets in, HBAR’s price will experience a pullback. At its current value, it trades above support formed at $0.12. When buying pressure starts to fade, it will test this price level. Should it fail to hold, the token’s price may plummet toward $0.11.

However, if the uptrend continues, the HBAR token will reclaim its cycle peak of $0.15 and attempt to rally past it, invalidating the bearish projection above. A successful break above this level will set HBAR on the path to trading at its year-to-date high of $0.18.