Altcoin Trading Hits Record Low As $209B Flees to Bitcoin

- Altcoin trading volume on Binance plummets from 59% to 33.6% in four months. - $209 billion net outflow and escalating investor fear fuel market shift to Bitcoin and speculative tokens. On February 18, 2026, Cryptopolitan reported a historic downturn in the altcoin market. Extreme selling pressure has driven liquidity toward Bitcoin (BTC) and high-risk speculative assets, including meme tokens and Real World Asset (RWA) tokens. Key metrics reveal unprecedented declines in altcoin trading activity and liquidity, signaling severe market distress. Altcoin trading on major exchanges like Binance has plunged. The platform’s share of altcoin trading volume dropped from 59% in November 2025 to just 33.6% by February 2026. This sharp decline underscores a growing investor preference for the relative security of Bitcoin and highly volatile speculative tokens. Deteriorating confidence in their utility and market relevance exacerbates the struggle for altcoins to retain demand. Data from CryptoQuant indicates that altcoins have endured 13 consecutive months of net selling on centralized exchanges, marking a five-year high in sell pressure. During this period, the market has suffered a staggering $209 billion in net outflows. Investors are abandoning even “blue-chip” altcoins, as their utility struggles to foster meaningful on-chain economic activity. The stagnant “altcoin season” index further highlights the sector's ongoing underperformance relative to Bitcoin. Investor sentiment has hit an all-time low, with the Fear & Greed Index plummeting to 8, denoting "Extreme Fear." This pervasive anxiety among market participants has accelerated the sell-off and raised doubts about the long-term viability of many altcoin projects, as observers draw comparisons to past bear markets where numerous projects collapsed under similar conditions. As liquidity and confidence shift decisively toward Bitcoin and speculative tokens, the altcoin market faces mounting pressure to adapt or risk a long-term decline. This marks a significant behavioral shift in the crypto sector and highlights the critical challenges the altcoin space must confront to achieve recovery.