Ether (ETH) extended its climb over the weekend, jumping past $3,770 as capital shifted from bitcoin
The move continues a trend that has defined July trading, with slow, steady gains for BTC alongside large breakouts across Layer 1s and decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens.
Bitcoin held firm above $117,400, gaining a little over 1% in the past 24 hours. XRP
, BNB (BNB), dogecoin and Cardano’s ADA (ADA) showed mixed movements as traders took profits, while Solana’s SOL (SOL) surged 8% to $203, its highest price level since late February.
The strength in SOL came as ecosystem player Jito introduced the Block Assembly Marketplace (BAM) in a move that some observers said boosted investor interest in SOL, as CoinDesk reported.
DeFi bluechips like Uniswap and Aave have posted 20%–30% jumps in the past week. Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE, attributed this to a mix of strong ETF inflows and optimism over the GENIUS Act, a legislative proposal expected to clarify the regulatory path for DeFi platforms.
“Investors are rotating into Ethereum en masse, which explains its sustained rally over the weekend. Bitcoin still remains strong at $117,000, but it’s clear that momentum has shifted towards Ethereum – the Ethereum ETFs are seeing record inflows,” Mei said in a note to CoinDesk.
“This makes sense as Ethereum is still trading well below its all-time highs and traders believe it will close the gap in the coming months,” Mei added. At current prices, ETH is still nearly 25% below its record high from 2021, providing swing traders with a defined target to aim for.
As bitcoin cools near its recent highs, some fund managers are already rotating capital into ether, betting that it’s next in line for a breakout. Part of that optimism stems from the growing role of ETH in institutional portfolios, especially as U.S. spot ETFs see accelerating inflows.
“We expect that Ethereum will climb back higher against BTC due to institutional support of new reserve strategies while investors fear missing out on an ETH surge similar to Bitcoin’s rush to $120,000 this year,” said Nassar Al Achkar, chief strategy officer at CoinW, in a Tuesday note.
Meanwhile, some say that global markets are flashing early signs of a renewed inflationary cycle. Long-dated yields are holding firm at elevated levels across major economies, while inflation breakevens — a key measure of future price pressures — have quietly climbed back to multi-year highs.
“Inflation expectations have creeped back in with long-dated yields staying elevated globally, while inflation breakevens have climbed back to the highest level in years as financial conditions stay loose,” Augustine Fan, head of insights at SignalPlus, said in a Telegram message.
“Crypto has certainly not shied away from our own FOMO moment. It certainly feels like that the good days are back until further notice,” Fan ended.
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