The overall market has been pretty starved for reasons to buy as opposed to selling. BTC is an exception, given Blackrock’s ETF filing is in the works, resulting in a Bitcoin dominance move above 50% (last seen in Apr. 2021). In such market conditions, outperforming BTC is equivalent to generating the highest ROI. With that in mind, when certain altcoins start outperforming, it’s probably time to pay close attention, as they will suck up most of the market’s risk appetite.

Among the front runners, STX has emerged as a bet on a flourishing Bitcoin ecosystem. Meanwhile, Optimism and Arbitrum are enjoying a favorable reception, likely driven by the upcoming Ethereum upgrade, EIP-4844 (proto-danksharding).

When few assets are moving, the market participants tend to pile on, which makes them trend even harder. So, it wouldn’t be surprising to see these outperform most of the market as they inch closer to their narrative expiry.