Polkadot News Today: Altcoin Tsunami Gains Momentum as Bitcoin's Reign Wanes

Cardano (ADA) and Polkadot (DOT) have surged over 6% in recent trading sessions, reflecting broader market rotation into alternative cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin's dominance wanes. This trend aligns with analysts' observations of a maturing crypto ecosystem, where investors are shifting capital from Bitcoin into projects with robust technical upgrades and institutional adoption potential. ADA's price action has been bolstered by its $71 million community-funded protocol upgrades, including Hydra (layer-2 scaling), Ouroboros Leios (consensus optimization), and Midnight (privacy-focused sidechains). These upgrades aim to enhance transaction throughput to over 1,000 TPS and reduce fees by 40–60%, potentially attracting DeFi and enterprise adoption. Meanwhile, DOT's Elastic Scaling and JAM protocol, launching in August 2025, are designed to enable dynamic core rental for parachains and achieve 1 million+ TPS, with gas-free transactions and developer incentives.

The SEC's decision on Grayscale's ADA ETF by October 26 has emerged as a critical catalyst for Cardano. With a 79% approval probability on Polymarket, regulatory clarity could unlock institutional demand akin to Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF inflows, though delays or rejections risk a 20–30% price retracement. Whale activity further supports ADA's near-term outlook, with 70 million ADA (~$60 million) accumulated below $0.80 in September. However, liquidation risks near $1 and a bearish Spot CVD metric (currently at -0.8) suggest profit-taking could stall rallies unless the metric turns positive. For Polkadot, the Grayscale and 21Shares DOT ETF applications add to the narrative, with analysts noting that institutional adoption via tokenized assets could offset retail volatility if regulatory hurdles are cleared.

Market rotation is underscored by Bitcoin's declining dominance, which fell to 60.5% in early October 2025, the lowest level since March. This shift mirrors historical patterns, such as the 2021 altcoin season, where Bitcoin's consolidation phase preceded a 650% surge in altcoin market cap. Current indicators, including the TOTAL3 index (excluding BTC and ETH), have formed a textbook Cup & Handle pattern, suggesting a potential $4.37 trillion altcoin market cap by 2025. Ethereum's performance also highlights this trend, with its price up 170% from recent lows and a 56% gain in the past month, driven by institutional staking and liquid staking platforms.

Polkadot's staking dynamics present a mixed outlook, with 55% of its supply staked at 11.5% annual yields. While this secures the network, post-upgrade liquidity from features like Agile Coretime could trigger sell-offs. Annual inflation remains at 7.4%, posing a headwind unless demand outpaces supply. Conversely, Cardano's whale accumulation and network upgrades position it to challenge $0.90 resistance, with analysts projecting a $1+ target if ETF approval and Leios rollout succeed.

Looking ahead, the altcoin season narrative is reinforced by on-chain metrics, including Ethereum's dominance over Bitcoin in futures trading volume for the first time since 2022. Retail interest, as measured by transactions under $10,000, has risen 9.7% in 30 days, historically preceding major rallies. Institutional participation is also growing, with projects like Polkadot Capital Group bridging TradFi and Web3 via tokenization. However, risks persist, including regulatory delays for ETFs, cyber-attack vulnerabilities for DOT, and inflationary pressures on DOT's price.

[1] Cardano (ADA) Price Prediction For 2025 & Beyond - CoinMarketCap (https://coinmarketcap.com/cmc-ai/cardano/price-prediction/)

[2] Polkadot (DOT) Price Prediction For 2025 & Beyond (https://coinmarketcap.com/cmc-ai/polkadot-new/price-prediction/)

[6] Altcoin Season 2025 Will Be Bigger Than 2021 - Here's Why (https://coinpedia.org/news/altcoin-season-2025-will-be-bigger-than-2021-heres-why/)

[8] Altcoins Poised for Year-End Explosion as Bitcoin Dominance Peaks in October 2025 (https://markets.financialcontent.com/talkmarkets/article/breakingcrypto-2025-10-7-altcoins-poised-for-year-end-explosion-as-bitcoin-dominance-peaks-in-october-2025)