Ethereum is on fire right now, folks. With a 7.4% jump in the 24 hours leading up to Thursday morning, Ether reached a peak of $3,400 earlier in the day and is now trading around $3,430. That’s the highest we’ve seen it since mid-January. Yeah, you heard that right. And it’s not just the price that’s hot; there’s a surge in institutional demand too, with $726.74 million flowing into nine spot Ethereum ETFs on Wednesday alone.
🦅 Spot ETF Flow: Around 6,765 $BTC were bought, 211,085 $ETH were bought on July 16th.
— HodlFM Team (@Hodl_fm) July 17, 2025
🔥 +6,765 $BTC (+$799.4M)
🔥+211,085 $ETH (+$726.6M)
🔹Coinbase US appstore rank: 152 pic.twitter.com/ioMXxfQaB3
Big money is clearly betting on Ethereum, and they’re not shy about it.
The biggest chunk of those funds? A cool $499 million landed in BlackRock’s ETHA ETF. Oh, and by the way, 8 out of those 9 Ethereum funds saw positive inflows for the day. That’s some serious money moving. For those keeping score, Ethereum ETFs have brought in $2.27 billion in net inflows this month, marking the highest monthly amount since these funds launched in July 2024. Talk about an ETH takeover.
Institutional Buying and the Altcoin Frenzy
Rachael Lucas, a crypto analyst at BTC Markets, had some interesting thoughts on this. She pointed out that Ethereum is no longer just a short-term trading option; it’s fast becoming a long-term institutional asset. And let’s not forget that these funds now own 4% of Ethereum’s total market cap, which is a pretty loud signal of how much capital is flooding in.
And hey, if you thought that was it, think again. Ethereum’s daily trading volume is cruising at over $2.5 billion, with bullish chart setups and capital rotation out of Bitcoin adding more fuel to the fire. Combine all that with institutional buying, and it’s no wonder Ether is on such a tear.
But wait, there’s more. Nick Ruck from LVRG Research added his two cents, explaining that the momentum behind Ether is being further backed by more public companies jumping on the ETH bandwagon as a treasury asset. One such company, SharpLink Gaming, just became the largest holder of Ethereum with a whopping 280,706 ETH, surpassing even the Ethereum Foundation's holdings. As of July 15, SharpLink bought an additional 20,279 ETH. That’s not a small play in the crypto game.
Ruck’s got a point, Ether’s price has some serious upside potential.
“With the increase in demand for ETH, traders view the asset as underpriced,” he said. “It’s got solid tokenomics, a strong ecosystem, and limited supply growth. We’re bullish on ETH continuing to climb, potentially past its previous all-time high of $4,600.”
It’s not just Ethereum, though. Other altcoins are getting in on the action. XRP surged 5% to $3.05, Solana rose 5.16% to $170.96, and BNB made its move with a 3.44% increase to $710. Bitcoin, however, didn’t have quite as much fun, only gaining 0.71%, trading at $118,395. Bitcoin dominance has even dipped 2.59% over the last week, down to 63.09%. Looks like the altcoin party is just getting started.
BTC Markets’ Lucas put it best:
“Bitcoin dominance is slipping, and historically, that’s a precursor to altcoin season.”
If you’re asking yourself, “Is this the start of something bigger?”, the answer is likely yes. Tightening supply, institutional buying, and favorable macro conditions could lead to one heck of an altcoin cycle. Hold on tight.
Matvii Diadkov
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