Ethereum Rockets 4-Year High as Crypto Market Goes Berserk—Bitcoin, XRP, SOL Join the Party

Crypto bulls are popping champagne—ETH just notched its best week since 2021, with BTC, XRP, and Solana surfing the same speculative wave. Traders are suddenly ’long-term believers’ again (until the next 20% drop, obviously).

Behind the surge? A perfect storm of institutional FOMO, spot ETF whispers, and that classic crypto narrative: ’This time it’s different.’ Meanwhile, Wall Street bankers are quietly dusting off their blockchain PowerPoints—just in case.

The real winner? Leveraged degens. The real loser? Anyone trying to explain these moves with ’fundamentals.’

Bitcoin leads while Ether, Solana, and XRP claw back ground

The market-wide rebound didn’t skip the altcoins, though they’re still far behind. Ether, after dragging for most of the year, saw a two-day rise of 29%, driven by its strong 10% gain on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Solana’s token went up 6% and posted a 16% two-day jump. For the full week, solana added 14.3%, its best weekly move since January. XRP, riding high off the conclusion of the infamous SEC-Ripple case, has surged by 5.1% in the past twenty-four hours.

Part of Ether’s surge came after Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade went live. That network update cut fees, made staking easier, and introduced support for smart wallets. That gave traders a push to jump in, especially those who had been avoiding the token due to network congestion and high gas costs.

Still, Ether and Solana haven’t recovered from earlier losses. Year-to-date, Ether is down 31%, and Solana is down 12%, even after the rebound. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is up 10% for the year. XRP is the only major altcoin that didn’t lose ground over that stretch.

ETF flows boost Bitcoin while altcoins lack real buyers

Bitcoin’s structure changed fast after spot ETFs launched in 2024. The money now comes from retirement portfolios, macro hedge funds, and even corporate bond strategies. That kind of buyer base is sticky since it doesn’t panic-sell, so it’s given bitcoin a clear edge.

Altcoins still rely on traditional crypto-native capital—money that reacts quickly to rate hikes, tech sector moves, and social media trends. Eric Chen, co-founder of Injective, said altcoins haven’t seen the same level of demand because the current interest rate setup hasn’t allowed the tech sector or speculative capital to grow meaningfully.

Eric also warned that unless new demand shows up, Ether and other altcoins might go lower before going higher. He pointed to their steady supply and the absence of any structural buyer base as the main risk.

Over at Wolfe Research, analyst Read Harvey agreed. “There remains one singular strategy for crypto investors: stick to BTC until risk on headwinds dissipate,” Read said in a note. He added that Bitcoin is one of just two assets in their basket that’s in the green this year. The question now, according to him, is whether Bitcoin can keep outperforming other assets like stocks—or if it’s gold, not crypto, that ends up being the safer long-term play.

Cryptopolitan Academy: Tired of market swings? Learn how DeFi can help you build steady passive income. Register Now