Ethereum’s July Surge Mirrors ’90s Tech Stock Frenzy—What’s Next for ETH?
Ethereum just pulled off a July rally that would make dot-com bubble traders blush. The second-largest crypto didn’t just climb—it went full Y2K speculative mania, leaving analysts scrambling to adjust price targets. Here’s where the smart money says ETH goes from here.
### The Dot-Crypto Parallels (And Why This Time Might Be Different)
Sure, the charts look like NASDAQ 1999—but Ethereum’s got something those Pets.com IPOs didn’t: actual revenue streams from DeFi and NFTs. Though let’s be real, some of those token projects would’ve fit right in with the ‘eyeballs over earnings’ crowd.
### Institutional FOMO Hits Overdrive
BlackRock’s ETH ETF approval wasn’t just a rubber stamp—it was a starting pistol. Traders report hedge funds are now ‘long and wrong’ on Ethereum, piling in after the 30% monthly pump like tourists buying Bitcoin at $69K. Classic.
### The Scaling Make-or-Break Moment
With Layer 2 solutions eating 40% of mainnet traffic, Ethereum’s playing a dangerous game. Either these rollups deliver on their 100x throughput promises, or we’re looking at another ‘gas fee crisis’ headline by September.
### The Bottom Line: Speculation or Infrastructure Play?
Market caps don’t lie—Ethereum’s now worth more than most Fortune 500 banks. Whether that’s a sign of revolutionary tech or just Wall Street recycling old playbooks with new jargon? Your call, degens.
Key Insights:
- Ethereum price rose 56% in July, its best month since 2022.
- ETF inflows hit $5.37B over 19 straight days.
- Balchunas compared ETH to ’90s tech stocks.
Ethereum price surged by roughly 56% in July, its largest monthly gain in three years. By July 22 the price was about $3,862, up from a July 1 open NEAR $2,468.
This marks the first time Ether has delivered a 50%-plus monthly return since July 2022. The jump has drawn comparisons to early high-flying tech shares: Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote that “Ether [is] starting to look like a ’90s tech stock as ETFs catch fire.”
Balchunas highlights that Ether’s rally is driven by accelerating adoption and massive ETF demand, contrasting with Bitcoin’s more “new gold” narrative.
Ethereum ETF Inflows Fuel Etherum Price Surge
The July rally coincided with a record wave of spot-ETH ETF purchases. U.S. Ether-based exchange-traded funds logged an unbroken 19-day net inflow streak in July.
From July 3 through July 30, these funds gathered about $5.37 billion of fresh money. The single largest inflow came on July 16, when nearly $727 million was added across all ETH ETFs. This fast accumulation helped push BlackRock’s iShares ethereum ETF (ETHA) past $10 billion in assets by July 24 – just 251 days after launch.
ETHA’s $5B-to-$10B jump in only ten trading days was called “the ETF equivalent of a God candle” by Balchunas. In this period, inflows into Ether ETFs even outpaced those into Bitcoin funds.
For six straight trading days in July, net new money into Ether ETFs exceeded that of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Farside Investors data similarly show Ethereum spot funds attracting $231.2 million on July 24 versus $226.6 million for Bitcoin, and nearly $2.4 billion over the prior six days – almost triple Bitcoin’s $827.6 million.
For July as a whole, ETH ETFs took in roughly $4.4 billion, exceeding the $4.2 billion those funds drew in the entire previous year.
As a result, the amount of ETH held by ETFs jumped from about 3.5 million on May 1 to roughly 5.6 million by July 24, now about 5% of all ETH supply.
A ’90s Tech Stock like Story
Market commentators note that Ether’s boom is underpinned by these ETF flows. “Bloomberg’s Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas attributed ETH’s recent price performance to the net inflows seen across spot Ether ETFs.”
In public posts Balchunas has likened Ether’s trajectory to fledgling tech stocks of the 1990s, emphasizing rapid network growth and user adoption.
He contrasts this with Bitcoin’s role as a store of value, saying bitcoin trades more like “digital gold” while Ether trades more like an early internet platform.
Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan adds that Ethereum is still underweight in ETF portfolios – he estimates an extra $7–8 billion of inflows WOULD be needed to bring ETH ETFs in line with its market capitalization.
Ethereum vs. Bitcoin
By comparison, Bitcoin’s price rise was far more modest. After reaching a fresh high of about $122,884 on July 14, BTC eased to roughly $118,100 by mid-month.
Bitcoin began July near $105,700, so the total gain is on the order of 10–12%. Ether’s 56% advance dwarfed Bitcoin’s return.
The shifting FLOW dynamics underline this contrast: it’s the first time that Ethereum-based ETF inflows have consistently overtaken Bitcoin funds across multiple days. This is unprecedented in ETF history and signals that institutional focus is tilting toward Ethereum products.
Other crypto assets saw gains too. For example, analysts note that several altcoins closely tracked Ether’s upswing in July.
But Bitcoin remains the top crypto by market cap (around $2.2 trillion) and retains its status as the market bellwether. Ethereum’s market cap is now about $466 billion, reflecting its price jump.
Overall crypto market risk appetite was also bolstered by broader uncertainty in equities and trade policy late in July, factors that often push investors toward high-growth tokens.
Network Activity Lags Ethereum Price
Despite the price surge, on-chain metrics have not kept pace. Chain activity ROSE only 5% in July versus June, and total protocol fees rose about 3%. At a $466B market cap, Ethereum’s annualized blockchain revenue is only about $764 million.
In short, analysts caution that Ether’s valuation is being driven by demand dynamics rather than fundamental throughput.
One consequence: nearly 28% of Ethereum’s supply is now staked and locked up, further tightening available liquid supply. Still, more than 94% of holders are in profit as of late July, suggesting bullish sentiment is strong.
