TOTAL3
Glossary · Macro & Cycles
TOTAL3 is the total crypto market capitalisation excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum — the aggregate value of every altcoin. It is the cleanest single chart of whether money is flowing into the long tail, which is what an alt season actually is, and it is the benchmark against which any individual alt's move should be judged.
"An alt going up 10% while TOTAL3 went up 15% did not outperform; it lagged a rising tide. Check the tide before you praise the boat."
Bitcoin dominance and TOTAL3 tell the same story from two ends: dominance falling with TOTAL3 rising is rotation into alts; dominance rising with TOTAL3 flat is Bitcoin leading alone; both falling is a bear market where alts fall faster. Because TOTAL3 is dollar-denominated, it can rise in a Bitcoin rally without alts gaining any ground against Bitcoin — the ETH/BTC and alt/BTC ratios show relative strength, TOTAL3 shows absolute flow.
Trading it: alt setups have a much better record when TOTAL3 is making higher highs, because a rising aggregate means the median alt has a bid under it. Our sector-strength tool measures each sector against the whole market, and our BTC-strength tool measures each coin against Bitcoin; the two together are the TOTAL3 question at coin level.
Related jargon
Questions
- What is TOTAL3 in crypto trading?
- TOTAL3 is the total crypto market capitalisation excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum — the aggregate value of every altcoin. It is the cleanest single chart of whether money is flowing into the long tail, which is what an alt season actually is, and it is the benchmark against which any individual alt's move should be judged.
- How would a trader say it?
- An alt going up 10% while TOTAL3 went up 15% did not outperform; it lagged a rising tide. Check the tide before you praise the boat.
Part of the Crypto Jargon glossary — every term, decoded the way a trader would say it.
Crypto Jargon
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