Analyst Warns: Altcoins May Face Brutal Shakeout, 99% of Projects Could Go to Zero

According to BroadChain, at 17:16 on April 21, Bitcoinist reported that Bitcoin's market dominance is hovering around 57%, sounding an alarm for traders observing the overall crypto and altcoin markets. Cryptocurrency analyst Michael van de Poppe believes that the altcoin market is about to undergo a brutal shakeout, with an estimated 99% of altcoins heading to zero. He compares this to the "cleanup" process during the dot-com bubble, where numerous companies perished, ultimately giving rise to the modern internet. Despite this grim prediction, van de Poppe remains extremely optimistic about the overall prospects of crypto assets, stating that the current period is one of the most bullish he has ever seen. He pins survival hopes on a handful of projects, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and selected DeFi platforms like Aave. He notes that short-term DeFi pain stems from the KelpDAO hack but views it as temporary volatility. Meanwhile, he sees Arbitrum as a buying opportunity on dips, watching for a potential drop to $0.16, and believes Bitcoin still has room to rise, targeting around $77,000, with Ethereum in a bullish trend. However, the analyst group Our Crypto Talk disagrees with this optimism, pointing out that the market has not yet met bullish conditions—prices need to break above the 20-day simple moving average, and that average must cross above the 50-day line, neither of which has occurred. Bitcoin is currently trading below these moving averages with a market dominance of 57%, placing the market in a "red zone" more likely to decline. Other analysts also warn that a rise in Bitcoin's market dominance typically signals capital flowing from altcoins to Bitcoin, historically foreshadowing prolonged weakness in altcoins. Van de Poppe acknowledges that the market is still building a base after the sell-off in Q4 2025, a phase that usually lasts 2 to 4 months. Bitcoin has been consolidating for about two and a half months, potentially nearing a potential turning point.