There are always two components to each altcoin’s price. One is the coin’s own characteristics: Fundamentals, investor sentiment toward the asset, liquidity and trading volume, among many others. Another powerful factor — the one that often renders any altcoin-specific dynamics irrelevant — is Bitcoin’s performance.
Like it or not, when the king of cryptocurrencies soars, there is room for the shabbiest shitcoins to punch way above their weight. When BTC tumbles, even the sturdiest alts can take a proportional hit. It's a question of knowing which is which.