Hype or Real Season Ahead? Tapping Into Crypto Podcast On Alt Coin Buzz Hits 5-Year High

Altcoins could be set for a strong end to 2025 off the back of surging investor interest, sustained progress on mainstream adoption, and digital asset regulation—particularly in the US—according to Swyftx’s Pav Hundal and Tommy Honan.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Tapping Into Crypto podcast on August 21, Hundal cited Google search data that shows interest in altcoins has surged to a five-year high in the past week. Hundal suggested this huge surge in interest may be driven by younger investors trying to find the next big altcoin play and cash in:

“You’ve got this race of — I think it’s a lot of the younger generation — trying to speculate where the puck is going…I can see why there’s investor appetite in altcoins,” Hundal said.

Honan added that the current Google search data for altcoins shows interest is twice as high as it was at the peak of the 2021 bull market. Yet the current altcoin market is nowhere near as bullish as it was back then, with many alts still well below their 2021 highs.

The stats don’t lie…[Google Trends] is saying we’re 2x higher than 2021’s froth…you just remember how bullish things were in 2021…it’s signalling something, something is bubbling for me underneath the surface.

Tommy Honan, Swyftx

Honan suggested the disparity between investor interest and actual market performance could be explained by many interested investors still waiting to take the plunge into altcoins. 

“I think people are still on the fence sitting on the sidelines — it wouldn’t take too much to really spur it,” Honan said. He added, “there still is a pretty hungry pool of capital that’s ready to jump on this thing if it goes.”

And what might be the catalyst that spurs the altcoin market? Hundal said it could be ETH hitting a new all-time high, which he said could trigger those sidelined investors to enter the market.

I think a lot of it to kick off needs catalysts and if I had to point to one personally, I think it’s ETH making new all-time highs. I think once we get that maybe a lot of people just go ‘Alright, I’m gonna get into something’.

Pav Hundal, Swyftx analyst

Related: Google Searches for “Altcoin” Hit Highest Since 2021 as Crypto Interest Broadens

Q4 Likely To Be Strong For Altcoins, Suggest Hundal and Honan 

Hundal said that the current geopolitical instability coupled with a lack of certainty about US tariffs and other economic policies has weakened investor risk appetite. Adding to this potential Q3 weakening is the fact that Q3 is historically just a weak quarter for crypto regardless of other factors, while Q4 is often quite strong.

“When we look at the data Q3 generally isn’t that great for Bitcoin, which means it’s never that great for crypto in general and then Q4’s usually the bumper one,” Hundal said.

Hundal thinks we may see Bitcoin start to lose some momentum in the short-term and that perhaps altcoins could “go ballistic” for 1-3 weeks as capital rotates out of Bitcoin into alts.

“It’s gonna be hard, I still feel like the next two weeks there’s a chance we see alts go crazy,” said Hundal.

Related: Fed Minutes Reveal Split Decision as Bitcoin and Ethereum Shrug Off Initial Dip

However, neither Hundal or Honan believe we’ll see altcoins outperform Bitcoin on a sustained basis until Q4. Part of the reason for this is the enormous number of ETH currently queued up to be unstaked, which suggests ETH holders are looking to sell. That makes it less likely ETH will see all-time highs in the short term.

“The overall market structure hasn’t changed for me,” Honan explained. “We could see a bit of a cool off over the next couple of months but I do still think we see a strong finish towards the end of the year.”