Ethereum’s ether (ETH) steals the spotlight in Monday’s crypto rally, climbing to a six-week high as investor demand shows signs of returning to the second-largest digital asset after months of bruising.
Ethereum’s native token, ETH, soared to over $2,300, gaining more than 10% in the last 24 hours. That easily outpaced bitcoin’s 3% gain and the CoinDesk 20 Index’s roughly 5% gain, signaling a shift in momentum toward assets beyond bitcoin.
The move comes after a torrid stretch for the broader crypto market, including ether. With the rebound, ETH is still down more than 50% from its August high and at one point was down about 65% from its peak during the market’s winter slide.
Prices have stabilized in February and March and institutional flows are starting to become supportive.
U.S. spot ether ETFs pulled in more than $160 million in fresh funds last week, marking their strongest weekly inflows since mid-January, according to data from SoSoValue. Global asset manager BlackRock also rolled out a yield-paying Ethereum staking ETF (ETHB), which has already drawn more than $45 million in inflows in its first two days of trading, on top of a $104 million seed investment, data from Farside Investors shows.
Meanwhile, BitMine (BMNR), the largest company holder focused on Ethereum’s treasury strategies, has bought nearly 122,000 ETH — worth about more than $280 million at current prices — in the past two weeks, adding another source of demand.
The BMNR share is higher by 13.6% on Monday. Another major ETH financial company, Sharplink Gaming (SBET), is seeing a 9.1% gain.
Rotation from bitcoin
Analysts say the price action may reflect investors rotating into ether after bitcoin dominated inflows earlier this year.
“ETH’s relative strength suggests potential rotational dynamics, possibly tied to network development and valuation appeal beyond bitcoin,” said Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.
He added that ether has broken above an important range relative to bitcoin, where it has been trading since late January. “potentially marks a significant bottom for ETHBTC.”
Adam Saville Brown, head of commercial at Tesseract Group, sees the move as a sign that risk appetite is expanding across the crypto market.
“Ethereum’s outperformance is worth watching,” said Adam Saville Brown, head of commercial at Tesseract Group. “ETH has broken back above $2,200 after weeks of underperformance. That kind of rotation to the second largest asset suggests that risk appetite is expanding, which is usually a healthy sign.”
Still, he cautioned that the rally could remain sensitive to macro cues.
“If Powell strikes a cautious note on inflation, altcoin gains will return faster than bitcoin,” Saville Brown said. “The honest assessment is that the floor looks solid. The ceiling requires more than a rate team to break through.”
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