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- Van de Poppe is watching $ARB, $UNI, $AAVE, $ETHFI, $NEAR, $ZEC, $SOL, and $SUI closely, as these altcoins show interesting market movements.
- He credits the Robinhood Chain launch for pulling fresh liquidity into Ethereum.
- Arbitrum and Uniswap have been the two biggest winners from that shift, he said.
- He says $NEAR and Zcash are benefiting most from a growing privacy narrative now.
Altcoins are starting to shake off weeks of sluggish price action, and one closely watched analyst thinks it is more than a short blip. In an exclusive interview with Coinpedia, Michaël van de Poppe, CIO and founder of MN Fund, MN Capital, and New Era Finance, walked through the altcoins he is watching most closely right now. He said improving market narratives are pulling fresh liquidity back into important sectors of the market.
His top picks this week
Van de Poppe is watching $ARB, $UNI, $AAVE, $ETHFI, $NEAR, $ZEC, $SOL, and $SUI closely. Each token, he said, is riding a different catalyst, from DeFi adoption to privacy demand to renewed strength in Layer-1 infrastructure.
Robinhood Chain is lifting Ethereum
Poppe pointed to one launch in particular as the spark behind the recent rally. He credits the Robinhood Chain launch for pulling fresh liquidity into Ethereum. “The first narrative is surrounding the launch of the Robinhood Chain,” he said. “This attracted liquidity and trading volume towards the Ether ecosystem.”
Arbitrum and Uniswap have been the two biggest winners from that shift, he said. “I don’t think that this will stall in the coming period,” he added. “Technically, they are looking great for more upside due to higher timeframe bullish divergences.”
DeFi and privacy tokens hold their ground
Regulatory progress is also playing a role, according to Van de Poppe. He pointed to the CLARITY Act as a factor bringing renewed attention to decentralized finance. “Ethereum is doing well on itself, and also other DeFi protocols like $AAVE and Ether.fi have been seeing spikes of interest,” he said.
He says $NEAR and Zcash are benefiting most from a growing privacy narrative now. “The privacy narrative is an important one,” he said, explaining why trading activity around both tokens has continued to climb.
Layer-1s show early signs of life
Van de Poppe said infrastructure tokens are quietly strengthening too. “Infrastructure layers are performing better and better, and that signals that the markets are on the edge of turning around,” he said.
He described Solana as “waking up,” while Sui is also showing early signs of recovery. “I expect other Layer-1s to be starting an uptrend,” he added.
What’s Next?
The altcoin season index has climbed to 58, signalling a shift in momentum away from Bitcoin and toward alternative assets. Bitcoin dominance has slipped from 58.12% to 56.3%, a move that historically precedes broader capital rotation into altcoins.
ETF flows are reflecting that shift in real time. While Bitcoin funds are seeing outflows, money is moving into Ethereum, XRP and Solana ETF products, showing institutional interest is diversifying rather than retreating from crypto altogether.
The backdrop is not uniformly positive, however. Around 40% of altcoins are currently trading near their all-time lows, a figure that highlights just how uneven this market cycle has been. Most tokens have not recovered anywhere close to their previous peaks, even as a handful of larger assets begin to show renewed strength.