The altcoin market is heating up, but the more interesting question is whether the rally still has room to run.
According to crypto market intelligence platform Glassnode, altcoin leverage remains below the level that would signal an overheated market. When Open Interest across altcoins approaches Bitcoin’s by just a few percentage points, Glassnode considers the market stretched. For now, that threshold remains out of reach.
That leaves three familiar names competing for attention: Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and XRP. All three have posted bullish structures in recent weeks, but their charts are telling slightly different stories.
Altcoin momentum is splitting three ways
Solana’s bullish structure was confirmed after the token pushed above the $98.41 swing level. The rally then ran into resistance around $110, followed by a brief slide below $100.
Buyers stepped back in around the $95 to $100 demand zone, helping SOL recover. The next major level on the radar is $119.60, a former support zone that turned into resistance in late 2025.
Cardano has followed a similar upward pattern since its market structure shifted in July. The token has continued to form higher highs, while an earlier-week pullback brought ADA back to the $0.19 support level.
The response from buyers was encouraging. From here, the next resistance areas sit around $0.23 and $0.255.
XRP is also holding a bullish structure, but its position is more complicated. The token is moving into a long-term supply zone that has repeatedly stopped previous advances.
That resistance could make it harder for XRP to outperform the other two through the rest of September.
Why Solana still has the edge
Recent performance gives the Solana story another twist. Since Wednesday, SOL has gained roughly 16%, compared with about 14% for Cardano and 11% for XRP.
More notably, Solana is the only one of the three to break above the highs reached in late August, when Bitcoin’s pullback weighed on the wider altcoin market.
That could suggest ADA and XRP still have ground to make up. But it also highlights something SOL has already demonstrated: fresh local highs and stronger recent momentum.
For now, the altcoin race remains closely tied to Bitcoin. As long as BTC avoids a sharp pullback, Solana’s recent strength could keep it ahead of Cardano and XRP through the remainder of September.