The latest altcoin rally is running into a potentially serious supply problem. Exchange deposits involving altcoins surged roughly 160% in only two weeks, raising the possibility that holders are beginning to lock in profits after September's strong performance.
According to CryptoQuant data, the seven-day number of altcoin deposits reached approximately 78,000 transactions on September 28, compared with 29,800 on September 14. This is the highest reading since October 2025. More importantly, depositing addresses nearly tripled from 17,600 to approximately 51,600, suggesting the increase is broad rather than being caused by several large wallets.
That creates an uncomfortable backdrop for some of September's strongest performers. Near Protocol (NEAR) is trading around $5.29 after gaining approximately 21.7% over seven days. Stellar (XLM) remains up approximately 9.9% for the week at $0.2236, while XRP trades around $1.48 after its own substantial September advance.
The problem is that these rallies created a much larger pool of holders sitting on unrealized profits. Moving tokens onto centralized exchanges does not prove that investors will sell, but it puts those assets immediately within reach of market liquidity. CryptoQuant consequently interprets the surge as evidence of increasing potential sell-side pressure.
There are already signs that momentum is becoming less uniform. Despite their strong weekly performances, NEAR and XLM are down approximately 2.9% and 1.5% over the latest 24-hour period, respectively, while XRP has fallen around 1.2%.
The broader environment also warrants caution. CryptoQuant data indicates that Bitcoin spot demand contracted by roughly 170,000 BTC over 30 days, while growth in speculative futures demand dropped about 90% between September 14 and September 29. Recent Bitcoin buyers were also sitting on average unrealized profits of roughly 33%.
None of this confirms that the XLM, NEAR and XRP rallies have definitively ended. But the combination of elevated prices, widespread profits and the highest altcoin exchange-deposit activity in almost a year creates substantially more distribution risk. The next test is whether market demand can absorb those deposits without breaking the support levels established during September's rally.
