Altcoin Season? Legacy Tokens Rally on Unlocks and Quantum Narratives

| panewslab.com
A handful of sharp rallies do not confirm an altcoin season. A commonly used benchmark requires at least 75% of the top 50 eligible cryptocurrencies to outperform Bitcoin over 90 days. The comparison is against BTC, so a token can rise in dollar terms and still underperform. Zcash (ZEC) reportedly climbed from about $50 to $1,300 in a year, while Starknet (STRK) rose fivefold from its August low but remained down 23% year over year. Traders who missed ZEC’s rally have also looked to perceived alternatives such as NEAR and STRK, a FOMO-driven strategy that can lead to losses. The later account adds that buyers are returning to some older projects because their tokens are fully or nearly unlocked and their networks were built around specific technical goals. Starknet has drawn attention for a proposed quantum-resistant Layer 1, with co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson targeting development for next year. Comments from Justin Drake have also revived concerns about quantum computing and crypto cryptography, though this remains a market narrative rather than a settled forecast. For traders, the altcoin season question remains open. Track token performance against BTC, unlock schedules and verifiable technical milestones rather than treating isolated rallies or quantum-resistance claims as proof of broad altcoin outperformance.
Neutral
The news is neutral for the prices of the named tokens overall. ZEC’s reported rise from about $50 to $1,300 may reflect substantial momentum, but the summary provides no new catalyst confirming that the rally will continue; profit-taking and volatility are possible after such a sharp move. STRK could see short-term speculative demand from its proposed quantum-resistant Layer 1, while its reported year-over-year decline and the unconfirmed timeline temper that signal. NEAR may attract traders seeking a perceived alternative to ZEC, but that beta-style rotation can be driven by FOMO and does not establish independent fundamentals. In the longer term, actual technical milestones and token supply conditions could influence these assets, but neither a few isolated rallies nor the quantum-security narrative demonstrates broad or durable price support.