Altcoin Exchange Deposits Surge 160% in Two Weeks, CryptoQuant Warns of Selling Pressure

Altcoin exchange deposits surged to their highest level in nearly a year, with onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant flagging potential selling pressure across the market. According to CryptoQuant's latest weekly report, the seven-day count of altcoin deposit transactions reached 78,000 on Sept. 28, up roughly 160% from around 29,800 just two weeks earlier on Sept. 14. The number of unique addresses sending altcoins to exchanges nearly tripled over the same period, climbing from approximately 17,600 to 51,600.

"Altcoin exchange inflows have exploded to their highest levels since Bitcoin's last all-time high," CryptoQuant noted in the report. The analytics firm described the increase as broad-based and cautioned that holders moving coins to exchanges are typically preparing to sell. Both the transaction count and depositing address count reached their highest tallies since October 2025, raising concerns about a wave of sell-side liquidity hitting the market.

The deposit surge coincides with signs of altcoin outperformance against Bitcoin. Last week, Glassnode's Altcoin Cycle Signal metric shifted in favor of altcoins, using price data across the 250 largest altcoins by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins. Smaller altcoins' market share has climbed to its highest level since February, while Bitcoin's dominance over total crypto market capitalization has remained compressed in a range between 58% and 60.4% since late May, according to TradingView data.

Bitcoin itself has pulled back after briefly topping $87,000 last week for the first time since January, with shifts in exchange order-book liquidity and long-term holder supply cited as potential obstacles to further short-term gains. With altcoin inflows accelerating and broader market positioning shifting, traders are watching whether the deposit trend translates into sustained selling or merely reflects portfolio rebalancing ahead of the fourth quarter.