Altcoins surge as rotation trade kicks in — TON up 93% on the week, altcoin season index hits 45!

Crypto traders rotated into higher-risk assets on Thursday, with ALGO and TON each gaining 8-9% while bitcoin held near a three-month high around $82,800 and ether slipped to $2,325 after briefly topping $2,420 on Wednesday. CoinMarketCap's altcoin season index climbed to 45/100, its highest reading since late March, up from 32/100 a month ago.

TON was the standout performer in derivatives markets, with open interest surging more than 10% to a fresh record high. The token briefly touched $2.90 — its highest since September — and is now up 93% on the week. TON, TRX, and ZEC were the only top-30 tokens posting OI-adjusted positive cumulative volume delta, meaning buyers are driving activity through aggressive market orders rather than passive bids.

BTC funding rates have normalised after averaging around minus 4% annualised in recent weeks, a reset some analysts view as constructive for…