Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe says he has kept his altcoin positions fully intact and is looking to Ethereum for the signal that could ignite a broader rally across smaller tokens.
In a post on X, the analyst said altcoins have begun to show stronger momentum than Bitcoin and that he has not trimmed his holdings despite recent market turbulence. He described the divergence as a constructive sign for the altcoin market and said his expectation of an upside move remains in place.
The linchpin, according to Van de Poppe, is Ethereum. While he reads the current ETH chart as positive, he argues that the token must clear a critical resistance zone before an uptrend can gather real force. A sustained move above that level, he said, could revive buying appetite and rebuild investor confidence across the market.
Should Ethereum break through, Van de Poppe expects altcoins to outperform both Bitcoin and the wider market, with ETH taking the lead. He summed up the scenario with a phrase of his own: "party time."
His stance has been consistent through the session. Earlier in the day, he said market sentiment had slid to extremely negative levels and that he was buying the dip. The latest note reaffirms that he has neither reduced exposure nor abandoned his altcoin thesis, even as the broader market remains soft.
The call puts Ethereum's price action at the center of the altcoin debate. Traders have long watched ETH as a bellwether for risk appetite in digital assets, and a decisive breakout would likely be read as a green light for rotation into smaller tokens. The reverse also holds: failure at resistance would leave the market without the catalyst Van de Poppe is waiting for.
Whether that catalyst materializes still depends on Ethereum's price performance, overall market conditions and investor sentiment, all of which remain uncertain. For now, the analyst is holding his positions and watching ETH.
