Since bitcoin (BTC) has been consolidating after hitting an all-time high, altcoins have been on the move. Large-cap assets have been leading, and the meme coin sector has been rising as well, with crypto community members wondering if this marks the onset of the long-awaited altseason.

While it remains unclear whether this brief period is beginning, the market continues to see activities that suggest that it is likely the case. One of them is the surge of altcoin trading volume on the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance.

Binance Futures Altcoin Volume Spikes

According to a CryptoQuant analysis, altcoin trading volume on Binance Futures spiked to $100.7 billion in a single day. The surge marks the highest seen since February 3, 2025, and comes after months of relatively lower altcoin activity.

Binance is generally considered the preferred platform for various types of trading, as evident in its substantial trading volumes. So, the latest spike indicates that retail investors are returning to the altcoin market. Analysts note that this is often observed after BTC reaches new all-time highs.

Market experts have always insisted that investors need to reallocate capital from bitcoin to altcoins before an altseason can start. That appears to be the case currently – Bitcoin’s trading volume has remained stable while altcoins account for 71% of the total trading volume on Binance Futures.

Over the past few days, Solana (SOL) and XRP have experienced significant gains in their market capitalization and prices. Solana’s market cap climbed back above $100 billion, while that of XRP hit an all-time high of $208 billion, with the coin’s price recording a new high.

Ether (ETH) has also been in the green, with its price staying steady above $3,000. The growth of these assets can also be linked to rising institutional adoption as more corporate entities embrace crypto treasuries.

Is Altseason Here?

As altcoins continue rising, Bitcoin’s dominance is falling, hovering below 61%. Market experts are citing this decline as evidence that the altseason has begun – previous altseasons have typically started with a decline in Bitcoin dominance.

CryptoPotato reported that some analysts believe the altseason started last week, while others maintain that the uptrend will commence this week. Others insist that this cycle will be no different from past ones and that the capital currently flowing into high-cap assets will eventually rotate into smaller projects.

Bitcoin veteran Max Keiser has accused U.S. President Donald Trump of “frontrunning Americans” after one of his companies acquired a massive $2 billion worth of BTC on Monday.

Keiser, long known for his bombastic takes and early Bitcoin evangelism, labeled Trump’s move “The Great Bifurcation,” implying the president was making sure to fill his own pockets before the U.S. reserve fund acquires any BTC.

The $2B Bet and the “Front-Running” Allegation

On July 21, Trump Media, the operator of the Truth Social app, confirmed spending $2 billion to purchase BTC and Bitcoin-related securities as part of a previously announced Bitcoin treasury strategy.

It did not go unnoticed that the acquisition came soon after the president signed a landmark crypto legislation, the GENIUS Act, which will regulate the stablecoin sector in the United States.

Earlier in the year, Trump also issued an executive order laying the groundwork for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to be stocked with BTC forfeited to the government as part of criminal or civil proceedings. In addition, he asked the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce to find “budget-neutral” ways for acquiring additional Bitcoin, including open-market purchases.

There has been no public reporting on the matter since, with most of the momentum seen at the state level as several of them introduced legislation to introduce their own crypto reserves.

Corporations have also been on a buying spree. Michael Saylor’s Strategy leads the pack, with its latest 6,220 BTC buy taking its stash to 607,770.

However, Trump Media’s foray into the market drew fire from Keiser, who also advises El Salvador president Nayib Bukele on the Central American country’s BTC plan. The former media personality reacted to the news of the $2 billion purchase, saying:

“Before buying any for the reserve fund, DT is front running Americans and buying Bitcoin for himself.”

Keiser’s accusation suggests Trump is using his position to personally benefit from a potential future surge in BTC’s price when the official U.S. national Strategic Bitcoin Reserve starts acquiring the asset.

Community Reaction

Reactions from the rest of the community were polarized; users like pseudonymous analyst Bitcoin Munger also implied impropriety on the president’s part, saying: “First the family loads up, then the country.”

Others defended the billionaire politician, with some suggesting he was only “leading by example” and showing confidence in the crypto asset before sinking billions of taxpayer dollars into it.

The furor notwithstanding, BTC has kept on motoring just fine. At the time of this writing, it was trading at around $119,313, slightly over 3% shy of its recent all-time high of $123,091, per CoinMarketCap.

Over the past month, it has surged 16.2%, with a 9.5% gain in the past two weeks. However, a modest 1.7% uptick in the last seven days means it has underperformed the global crypto market, which is up 5.90% in that period.

Coinbase has officially launched CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for U.S. traders through its Coinbase Financial Markets (CFM) platform.

This development marks the first time American retail investors can access these derivatives in a fully regulated environment.

Coinbase’s Offering

As of Monday, the company has joined the expanding list of exchanges offering regulated derivatives in the U.S. market.

“Bringing the power and efficiency of perpetual futures to a regulated American market…Huge step forward for U.S. crypto traders,” said the company in a July 21 announcement via X.

Coinbase explained in a separate blog post that perpetual futures account for roughly 90% of global crypto derivatives volume. However, until now, U.S. access has been limited by a complex regulatory landscape.

The contracts are already live, with the initial offering including nano Bitcoin (BTC-PERP) and nano Ether (ETH-PERP) perpetual futures. These are fractional contracts that give traders exposure to their respective assets at lower capital requirements. Each contract represents a small portion of the underlying cryptocurrency and supports up to 10x  intraday leverage, no monthly expiration dates, and trading fees as low as 0.02%.

These products are available through CFM, a CFTC-regulated entity, and are designed specifically for U.S. users. Unlike traditional futures, the perpetual contracts have five-year durations that allow traders to hold positions longer without the need for monthly rollovers. Additionally, they can also access up to 20x intraday leverage on metals futures such as gold and silver.

Meanwhile, the exchange also recently rebranded its Coinbase Wallet to Base app. The new platform brings together crypto, social features, payments, and mini-apps, all powered by its Ethereum Layer 2 network, Base.

Kraken Enters the American Derivatives Market

Coinbase’s move also comes amid growing competition from platforms like Kraken, which recently debuted its CFTC-regulated futures through the Kraken Pro platform. The product provides investors with access to CME-listed crypto futures, enabling leveraged trading and hedging within a compliant framework.

The service is currently available in select U.S. states, including Vermont, West Virginia, North Dakota, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C., with plans to expand nationwide later this year.

The rollout followed Kraken’s $1.5 billion acquisition of retail futures brokerage firm NinjaTrader. Serving nearly two million futures investors, the platform holds a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) license, which was important for the exchange’s entry into the regulated U.S. derivatives market.