Altcoin Winter Here? Ethereum, Solana Activity Plunges

On-chain data shows signs of an altcoin winter may be emerging as Ethereum, Solana, and other cryptocurrencies have seen a decline in activity.

In a new thread on X, institutional DeFi solutions provider Sentora (formerly IntoTheBlock) has talked about how interest in altcoins has been cooling off recently.

The on-chain indicator of relevance here is the “Active Addresses,” which measures, as its name suggests, the total number of addresses that are participating in some kind of transaction activity on a given network every day.

When the value of this metric rises, it means more users are making transfers on the blockchain. Such a trend implies trading interest in the cryptocurrency may be on the rise.

On the other hand, the indicator witnessing a decline suggests investors may be shifting their attention elsewhere as they are reducing their transaction activity on the network.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in this indicator for Ethereum, the largest of the altcoins, over the last few years:

As displayed in the above graph, the Ethereum Active Addresses metric was at a high of 589,000 in late July. Since then, activity on the network has gone downhill, with there now being 488,000 addresses making transactions, around 17% lower than the peak.

“Fewer users interacting on ETH indicates weaker on-chain demand, a pattern seen in past bear-market phases,” explained Sentora. Solana, another prominent altcoin, has been showing a similar trend.

From the chart, it’s clear that the monthly version of the Active Addresses witnessed a notable decline for SOL during Q3 2025. More specifically, active users on the blockchain dropped by about 30% in this period. “Solana has been the out-performer this cycle, but momentum is cooling,” noted the analytics firm.

Memecoins have been hit hard in the recent market downturn, and the same has held true for their on-chain activity. Dogecoin, the largest meme-based token, has only witnessed a slight decrease in Active Addresses, but Pepe has gone through a drawdown of 85%. “This drop shows how quickly speculative user bases can evaporate,” said Sentora.

Finally, the analytics firm has also highlighted that DeFi trading volume has started to trend down as well. The metric is still relatively strong compared to other cryptocurrency-related indicators, but a change in direction is apparent.

With the crash in prices and downturn in on-chain activity, is the altcoin sector entering a season of winter? “It’s too early to tell but the current data echoes past cycles,” noted Sentora. “We are already 6+ months into an altcoin slowdown, with winter signs popping up.”

Ethereum has plunged alongside the rest of the market during the past day as its price has retraced to $3,300.