How AltSonar scores coins
No magic and no predictions. Just a daily, plain-English look at what the data says.
What the score means
Every coin gets a score from 0 to 100. It is relative: a score of 80 means the coin looks better than about 80% of the altcoins we track, on today's data.
It is not a forecast. A high score does not mean the price will go up. It means the mix of usage, trend, news and safety looks better than most other coins right now.
The four ingredients
Business strength
Is the project earning real money and being used? We compare revenue with price, money locked in its apps, revenue growth, how much of its supply is still locked up, and how actively it trades.
Price trend vs Bitcoin
Is it beating Bitcoin? We look at the last 7 days, 30 days and about 7 months, plus how clean the trend is. Vertical pumps are marked down, because chasing them is how beginners buy the top.
News & narrative
AI reads 100+ crypto headlines every day, rates catalysts that are specific to each coin, and judges how hot each sector is. 50 means neutral news.
Safety
How wild are the price swings? How big is the coin? How much supply is still to unlock? How far is it from its all-time high? Meme coins always count as riskier.
How risk levels change the mix
Your risk level changes how much each ingredient counts. Safer levels care about business and safety. Riskier levels chase trend and news.
| Risk level | Business | Trend | News | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safe | 40% | 20% | 15% | 25% |
| Balanced | 30% | 30% | 25% | 15% |
| Aggressive | 20% | 35% | 35% | 10% |
| Degen | 10% | 45% | 45% | 0% |
The portfolio builder then follows a few simple rules for each level.
| Risk level | Coins | Sizes allowed | Blue chips | Max per coin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safe | 5 | Blue chip, Established | 60% min | 35% |
| Balanced | 6 | Blue chip, Established, Mid-cap | 30% min | 25% |
| Aggressive | 7 | Established, Mid-cap, Speculative | None | 22% |
| Degen | 8 | Mid-cap, Speculative + memes | None | 20% |
Why picks change weekly, not daily
Every Monday we pick a fresh portfolio for each risk level and keep it for the whole week. Prices, news, the market mood and the rankings still update every day.
Buying and selling every day because a coin moved is one of the most common ways beginners lose money: fees add up, and you end up buying after jumps and selling after drops. A weekly list gives you time to read why each coin was picked and decide calmly. Each pick shows how its price has moved since it was picked.
Risk tiers
Bigger coins usually swing less. We sort every coin into one of four tiers by size.
- Blue chipWorth $10B or more
- EstablishedWorth $1B or more
- Mid-capWorth $150M or more
- SpeculativeBelow $150M, or any meme coin
Very volatile coins move one tier riskier than their size alone would suggest.
What we leave out
- Bitcoin itself. This tool ranks altcoins only.
- Stablecoins, which are meant to stay at $1.
- Wrapped and staked copies of other coins.
Limits
- No tool can predict prices. Not this one, not anyone.
- Small coins can be pushed around by a few big traders.
- Data can lag. Prices, news and on-chain numbers are refreshed daily, not live.
- AI can misread a headline. Treat the explanations as a starting point.
- Crypto can fall 80% or more. Only use money you can afford to lose.
Sources
- CoinGecko for prices, market size and supply.
- DefiLlama for revenue and money locked in apps.
- Alternative.me for the Fear & Greed index.
- CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, The Block, Decrypt, Blockworks and CryptoSlate for headlines.
- AI explanations are written from that day's news and data.