Ethereum Breakout Drives Crypto Rally, Boosting Markets

Over the past weekend, crypto markets saw a surge in activity that carried over into Monday, August 11, prompted by President Donald Trump’s recent executive order permitting cryptocurrencies in 401(k) retirement plans. Among the leading digital assets, Ethereum (ETH) stood out as the top earner, surpassing $4,200 for the first time since December 2021. This spike followed news of the public ETH treasury firm Fundamental Global filing a $5 billion shelf registration with the SEC. Currently, ETH is trading close to $4,350, reflecting a nearly 3% increase in the day and a 20% rise over the past week.

Bitcoin (BTC) also experienced gains, reaching as high as $122,227 before dipping slightly to hover around $120,500. Despite the minor retracement, BTC is up by 1.5% for the day and 5% for the week. XRP maintained a flat trading position at $3.21 over the past 24 hours, following the SEC and Ripple dropping their appeals after a prolonged legal battle. Solana (SOL) saw minimal movement, trading at $180 for the day, but showing a growth of almost 9% over the week. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization exceeded $4 trillion, reaching a new peak of $4.144, with Bitcoin dominance slipping to around 58.6%.

In a recent 24-hour period, crypto positions worth approximately $419 million were liquidated, with ETH leading at $131.5 million, followed by Bitcoin at $125 million. The upward trend in altcoins has been compared to the changing seasons, with a slow April thaw followed by a chilly June, culminating in a strong summer for altcoins by late July and early August. Ray Yossef, CEO of NoOnes, indicated that the market was brimming with opportunities from late June to early July, leading to the rise of larger-cap altcoins and marking the onset of altcoin season. With Bitcoin’s dominance slipping to 60%, over 30 altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin’s growth in the last 90 days.

One of the standout altcoin performers, Zora (ZORA), the token associated with the Zora protocol on Coinbase’s Base network, surged by 45% in the past 24 hours and registered a 133% gain over seven days. The rally followed Coinbase’s announcement of DEX trading in its primary app, granting U.S. users access to numerous on-chain assets on Base. Other notable movers include Lido DAO (LDO), PUMP, and ZRO, all showing double-digit gains. The positive momentum around platforms offering Base and Creator Coins, like Zora, signals a fundamental evolution in how creators monetize their content, according to Ignacio Palomera, CEO of Bondex.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $404 million in net inflows on the final trading day of the week, while ETH ETFs saw even larger gains at $461 million. Investment funds in the crypto space made a significant turnaround last week, pulling in $1.57 billion after the Trump administration’s 401(k) executive order, following an earlier loss of $1 billion. Ethereum products raked in the most money at $268 million, pushing total net inflows for the year to a record $8.2 billion. Bitcoin products followed closely behind with $260 million in inflows, while altcoins like SOL, XRP, and NEAR also saw notable inflows.