If you’ve ever opened up CoinMarketCap or TradingView and felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of altcoins available to trade, you’re not alone.
From Bitcoin Cash to Render, from Solana to some obscure low-cap token you just heard about five minutes ago — there are literally thousands of altcoins out there. And every week, new ones show up, old ones pump or dump, and trends shift almost overnight.
When I first started trading crypto, I jumped into altcoins blindly — usually based on hype, social media buzz, or YouTube influencers. Sometimes I made quick money. But more often, I held onto losers too long or missed out on better opportunities simply because I didn’t have a system.
Now, after several years of trial and error (and a few painful lessons), I’ve developed a repeatable weekly process for selecting which altcoins I trade.
This is not about picking moonshots or hoping to catch the next 100x. It’s about filtering noise, focusing on high-probability setups, and staying disciplined.
Here’s how I choose which altcoins to trade every week — and how you can develop your own system too.
Every Sunday or Monday, I start by reviewing the market from a top-down perspective. I want to know:
If Bitcoin is highly volatile, in a sharp downtrend, or breaking key support levels, I typically avoid most altcoins for the week. When BTC dumps, altcoins tend to get crushed harder.
On the other hand, if BTC is stable, consolidating, or slowly trending up, that’s when altcoins tend to shine.
Bitcoin sets the tone. Altcoins follow the rhythm.
Once I know the general conditions, I start with a fresh watchlist. I don’t carry old favorites over by default. Each week deserves a fresh look.
I know this sounds basic, but you’d be surprised how many people ignore higher timeframes and go straight to the 15-minute or 1-hour chart.
When I scan altcoins, I always start with the weekly and daily charts. Here’s what I look for:
I mark out major levels, key trendlines, and potential areas of interest. If a coin is still in a messy downtrend or stuck in sideways chop, I skip it — no matter how good the news or hype is.
The idea is to trade strength, not hope for reversals.
I don’t touch altcoins that are illiquid or flat.
If there’s no volume, there’s no trade.
Volume shows interest, and interest drives momentum. I use tools like:
I also check volatility — because without price movement, there’s no profit to be made.
If an altcoin’s price has barely moved over the past week, it’s not worth watching.
Ideally, I want liquid, volatile coins that are either:
This is a personal rule that keeps me focused.
I don’t trade micro-cap altcoins unless there’s a specific catalyst. Most weeks, I stick to the top 100–200 by market cap. These coins:
It doesn’t mean low-caps can’t run — but for short-term trading, I’d rather focus on consistency over lottery tickets.
One of my best tools is the TradingView Screener.
Here are the filters I use:
After running the screener, I usually narrow my list to 10–15 coins to analyze deeper.
Every few months, a theme dominates the market. Sometimes it’s AI tokens, sometimes Layer 2s, sometimes meme coins or DeFi.
Even if you’re a technical trader, ignoring narrative is a mistake.
Why? Because traders follow stories.
If AI coins are pumping and one of them breaks a major resistance, chances are others in that niche might follow. It creates what I call “echo pumps.”
So each week, I check Twitter, news sites, and YouTube (with a heavy filter) to see:
I don’t trade hype blindly, but I do factor sentiment into my choices.
This is huge.
One of the biggest mistakes I used to make was watching too many altcoins.
It led to FOMO, distraction, poor entries, and missed exits.
Now, I keep my weekly watchlist to 3–5 altcoins max. These are the coins I’ll watch, chart, and potentially trade during the week.
For each one, I do the following:
If none of them give clean setups, I don’t force trades. I simply wait — or adjust the watchlist mid-week.
Let’s say one of the coins on my watchlist looks good on the daily chart. Before I enter, I drop down to the 4H or 1H chart and look for alignment.
If the lower timeframes are choppy or conflicting, I wait.
If everything lines up — volume, price structure, market sentiment — I enter with a tight plan:
This process helps me avoid impulsive entries and revenge trades.
Every trade I take must have at least a 2:1 risk-to-reward ratio.
If I’m risking 2%, I want the potential to gain 4% or more.
Even if a coin looks promising, I skip the trade if:
Remember: it’s not just about finding “good coins.” It’s about finding trades where you have the edge.
No plan is perfect.
By Wednesday or Thursday, I review how my watchlist is performing. Sometimes:
But I always go back to the same checklist: volume, structure, clean levels, trend, narrative.
The goal is not to constantly chase what’s moving — it’s to find high-probability setups and execute with consistency.
Choosing which altcoins to trade shouldn’t be a guessing game.
It also shouldn’t rely on whatever is trending on Twitter that day.
The reason I’ve found more peace (and better results) in my trading is because I’ve developed a process that:
Some weeks, I don’t take any trades — and that’s perfectly fine.
Other weeks, I take 1–2 solid setups and close in profit. And that’s better than 10 sloppy trades that drain my account and my sanity.
So if you’re still jumping from coin to coin without a plan, take some time this weekend to create a selection system that works for you.
Because in crypto, the edge doesn’t go to the smartest or the fastest.
It goes to the most consistent.
How I Choose Which Altcoins to Trade Every Week was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
