The Ethereum price hit the $3600 mark for the first time since January, continuing its explosive rally on Thursday, even as Bitcoin just saw modest gains.
Trading at $3,616 at press time, ETH is now up 45% in July and driving the broader market rally in altcoins.
Experts believe that the second-largest crypto isn’t running out of steam anytime soon, as the list of reasons to be bullish keeps getting bigger.
On Thursday, Nasdaq filed an amendment with the SEC to allow BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust to offer ETH staking for its ETF holders. Spot Ethereum ETFs have already seen record inflows in recent days, and the addition of staking could further accelerate demand.
Meanwhile, billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund has purchased a 9.1% stake in BitMine, a Bitcoin mining and Ethereum treasury company.
Thiel’s involvement gives credence to Ether’s status as a legitimate long-term investment, which many are calling the currency of the digital economy.
Unsurprisingly, prominent analysts have raised their targets. Ethereum price prediction by experts indicates a strong possibility of $4000 in July. Some are even anticipating $10,000 in August.
BlackRock Files For ETH Staking, Ethereum Treasuries Compete For Dominance
Back in April, prominent thought leaders were calling Ethereum dead. Just months later, it has emerged as one of the best-performing financial assets, now drawing FOMO from Wall Street billionaires.
Ethereum treasury firms are in a stiff race to establish market dominance. BitMine Immersion Technologies ($BMNR) has become the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, with holdings worth $1.04 billion.
BitMine’s Ethereum treasury strategy is being spearheaded by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, a prominent Wall Street investor and one of Bitcoin’s earliest advocates. Lee aims to acquire and stake 5% of the total ETH supply.
Bitmine increased ETH holdings to $1 billion, >300,000 ETH tokens
Tom Lee @Fundstrat, Chairman of $BMNR:
"we surpassed $1 billion in Ethereum holdings, just seven days after closing on the initial $250 million private placement"
"We are well on our way to… pic.twitter.com/FfS32pSymR
— Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc. (@BitMNR) July 17, 2025
Now, legendary venture capitalist and billionaire Peter Thiel has acquired a 9.1% stake in $BMNR, giving credence to the company’s treasury strategy and its Ethereum price targets.
However, BitMine is facing stiff competition from Sharplink Gaming ($SBET), which now has over $915 million in ETH and staked Ether. SharpLink has also raised approval to sell up to $5 billion in common stock, fueling its Ethereum accumulation strategy.
Sharplink Gaming $SBET amended their prospectus, “Up to $5,000,000,000 of Common Stock”.
F I V E B I L L I O N S 
pic.twitter.com/QNyBG5KZCG
— fabda.eth (@fabdarice) July 17, 2025
Besides treasury firms, institutions and retailers are also stacking ETH. BlackRock’s ETHA ETF posted back-to-back record inflows this week, with $499.2 million on Wednesday and $550 million on Thursday.
It has now filed to enable staking on its ETH holdings, a move expected to significantly boost investor demand.
Unsurprisingly, experts are raising their Ethereum price targets.
Ethereum Price Prediction – When $10,000?
The Ethereum price has surged by 45% in July to reclaim $3,600 on Thursday. $4000 is now a consensus price target for July, and prominent analyst Kaleo thinks that target will be hit this week itself.
Indeed, Ethereum is rapidly entering a supply squeeze. BitMine is targeting 5% of the total ETH supply, while Sharplink has authorized a $5 billion raise to accumulate more. Meanwhile, liquidity is thinning fast. Market maker Wintermute recently disclosed it has no ETH left for OTC sales.
Experts now claim that the real Ethereum rally will start once it breaches the $4000 resistance and the upper trendline of a 4-year wedge.
Prominent trader Cobra has given a new Ethereum price target of $9,000 using the popular Andrew’s Pitchfork pattern.
Considering ETH’s stunning growth, some bulls are hoping for $10,000 in August itself. While this remains highly unlikely, it is very possible that Ethereum reaches five figures this year or by early 2026.
New Ethereum Meme Coins In High Demand
Smart money investors continue to view Ethereum meme coins as beta bets on ETH, which explains the strong rallies in Floki, Pepe and even Mog Coin.
Low-caps memes are also in high demand. For instance, TOKEN6900 (T6900) has raised nearly $700k in its ongoing presale, with many viewing it as the next 100x crypto.
Unlike utility-driven projects, TOKEN6900 openly embraces its meme status, focusing on internet culture and attention markets. With 80% of its supply allocated to the public and no VC involvement, it appeals to retailers and smart money traders hunting high-upside opportunities.
Its no-utility approach mirrors recent breakout performers like Fartcoin and Useless Coin. Moreover, T6900 is a true low-cap meme coin, with a $5 million hard cap in its presale, making it even more appealing.
Similarly, a new Bitcoin Layer-2 coin, Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER), has raised over $3.3 million in its ICO.
Built using the Solana Virtual Machine and zero-knowledge rollups, Bitcoin Hyper aims to bring speed and scalability to Bitcoin. Its low-cap nature and bold roadmap have made it a popular beta bet among investors anticipating a BTC rally.
Prominent analysts have called HYPER one of the best low-cap cryptos to buy now.
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