Altcoin Market Cap Charts Every Crypto Investor Should Know
Most crypto investors check Bitcoin's price and call it a day. But if you're trying to understand what altcoins are doing — and where they might be headed — you need a different set of tools. TradingView offers several lesser-known market cap charts that cut through the noise and show you the altcoin market in isolation. Here's what they are, how to read them, and why they matter right now.
Why Bitcoin Dominance Distorts the Overall Picture
The TOTAL market cap chart is the most commonly referenced crypto metric. It includes every cryptocurrency — Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, altcoins, memecoins, all of it. The problem is that Bitcoin alone accounts for more than half of that total. When Bitcoin moves, TOTAL moves with it, which can mask what's happening everywhere else.
TOTAL2 solves this by removing Bitcoin. TOTAL3 goes further and removes both Bitcoin and Ethereum. These charts are useful for understanding whether altcoins as a group are gaining or losing ground independent of Bitcoin's price action. For anyone holding or considering altcoins, these are the charts to have on your watchlist.
What Is the OTHERS Chart and Why Do Analysts Use It
OTHERS is a TradingView chart that represents roughly the top 125 cryptocurrencies by market cap, minus the top 10. It strips away Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the other largest assets, leaving you with a cleaner signal on mid-tier altcoins — the ones most retail investors are actually trading.
As of early March 2026, OTHERS is sitting at approximately $176 billion. To put that in context, it briefly touched this level in 2024 and 2025 but didn't hold there long. The last time it sustained these levels was 2023. Weekly RSI on OTHERS is currently near 30 — a reading last seen during the 2022 crypto bear market.
Total2ES — The Most Precise Altcoin Market Indicator
Total2ES takes the concept further. It covers the top 125 cryptocurrencies, removes Bitcoin, and also removes stablecoins. This last step matters more than it might seem. Stablecoins like USDT and USDC are not altcoins — they're pegged to the dollar and don't move with market sentiment. Including them in an altcoin index distorts the reading.
What remains in Total2ES is a universe of utility tokens — projects with actual use cases in areas like decentralized finance, infrastructure, storage, and computation. The current Total2ES market cap is approximately $600 billion, down from $1.4 trillion in September 2025. That's a drawdown of more than 57% in roughly six months.
Weekly RSI on Total2ES is also near 30, mirroring the signal from OTHERS and from the broader TOTAL chart. Historically, weekly RSI at these levels has not been associated with market peaks.
How to Use These Charts Practically
These charts are most useful as context, not as timing tools. Here's how to apply them:
First, use OTHERS or Total2ES to understand whether a specific altcoin's weakness is market-wide or unique to that token. If the entire altcoin market is down and your token is down, that's expected. If the altcoin market is recovering and your token is still falling, that divergence is a red flag worth investigating.
Second, use weekly RSI on these charts to gauge whether the market is in broadly overbought or oversold territory. Overbought doesn't mean sell immediately, and oversold doesn't mean buy immediately — but knowing which zone you're in helps frame risk.
Third, compare altcoin market caps to traditional assets for perspective. Gold's total market cap is approximately $37 trillion. The entire top-125 altcoin market excluding stablecoins is $600 billion. The scale difference is significant for anyone thinking about long-term potential and capital rotation.
Dollar Cost Averaging in a Low Market
For investors who believe in the long-term utility of crypto, periods of broad market weakness have historically been when dollar cost averaging produces the best long-term results. No one can call a bottom with certainty — but entering gradually during periods of compressed valuations and oversold RSI readings is a lower-risk approach than chasing peaks.
If you're thinking about holding altcoins for the long term inside a tax-advantaged account, iTrustCapital allows you to hold real cryptocurrency inside an IRA. There's still time to make prior-year contributions. For tracking charts and learning more about crypto market structure, visit CryptoSchool.cc for free educational resources.
This article is educational and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
Affiliate Disclosure: This site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Content is for educational purposes only — not financial advice.