The price of the second-largest cryptocurrency increased by 8.9% in a day, reaching $3,452 — the highest since mid-January, according to CoinGecko. The rally was supported by a record influx of funds into spot Ethereum ETFs.
According to SoSoValue, on July 16, the net inflow into nine exchange-traded funds amounted to $726.74 million. The leader was ETHA from BlackRock with a result of $499 million.
Since the beginning of July, spot ETH ETFs have attracted $2.27 billion, setting a monthly record since their launch.
BTC Markets analyst Rachel Lucas believes that Ethereum is increasingly being viewed as a long-term institutional asset rather than a speculative instrument. She noted that funds already hold 4% of the total market capitalization of the altcoin, indicating a rapid influx of capital from large players.
LVRG Research Director Nick Rak linked the dynamics of Ethereum to the increasing number of public companies investing in cryptocurrency as a reserve asset.
The company SharpLink Gaming, backed by ConsenSys, has become the largest holder of the coin with ~280,600 ETH, surpassing the Ethereum Foundation.
Against the backdrop of Ethereum's growth, other altcoins have also risen in price: XRP (+7.8%), Solana (+5.7%), and BNB (+4.2%), according to CoinGecko. Bitcoin added 0.2% during the same period.
The dominance index of the first cryptocurrency decreased by 2.59% over the week, to 62.62%, according to TradingView. Lucas stated that the decline in the metric has historically been a harbinger of the "altcoin season".$ETH