On Sept. 28, altcoin spot trading volumes hit nearly four times Bitcoin’s, the highest reading of that ratio since 12 months ago, and by Oct. 6, volumes were still highly elevated. In the past, such spikes in altcoin trading activity have portended the onset of “alt seasons,” which are exciting periods of crypto market activity lasting a quarter or two that typically see dozens of altcoins skyrocketing, with a couple of the biggest winners often then entering the ranks of the major cryptocurrencies.

At least, that’s the hopeful reading of the altcoin volume data. CryptoQuant counted 78,000 altcoin deposits to exchanges in the week through Sept. 28, and coins sent to exchanges are often coins about to be sold. So…