𧔠July has been a crazy month for the crypto markets, especially ETH. Letâs explore why this cycle is looking very different. đ
1/ In July alone, $ETH surged nearly +60%, massively outperforming $BTC, which rose only ~10%.
The sentiment has flippedâwhat was once cryptoâs underperformer is now being hailed as the alpha asset by many X-native investors.
2/ đ Why is ETH pumping?
Letâs unpack the bullish vs bearish macro drivers at play right now.
Bullish tailwinds:
-Weaker USD â strong equities, gold & BTC
-Regulatory clarity via GENIUS & CLARITY Acts
-Rate cut possible in Sept
-US-EU trade deal optimism
-Spot ETF approvals looming
-$ETH perps OI surged from <$18B â >$28B
-Corporate treasury accumulation
3/ And donât forget geopolitics:
-Escalating tensions (Israel-Iran, Russia-Ukraine) have historically been positive for BTC & crypto.
-$BTC dominance is falling â increased interest in alts, especially $ETH.
4/ Bearish pressures:
-June CPI hints at tariff-driven inflation â rate cuts may slow in 2026
-Tariffs might not be fully priced in yet
-Powell stepping down = short-term relief, long-term inflation uncertainty
5/ Whatâs next for ETH?
With the Fed likely to keep rates flat in July, we could see a short-term cool-off or choppy sideways action.
đ In this case, shorting an ETH straddle could be a way to capture yield via theta decay.
7/ đ Zooming out:
With a rate-cutting environment expected in 2026, many believe the medium- to long-term trend is still up.
This makes long-dated ETH calls an attractive way to position for broader macro tailwinds.
8/ đ„ Many are even calling for a new altcoin seasonâbut this time, focused on fundamentals rather than hype.
No more "rising tides lift all boats"âweâre seeing a rotation into real utility.
9/ đ Institutions are hereâand theyâre not playing small.
-ETFs for staked ETH, SOL, LTC, XRP, SUI, etc.
-Corporate treasuries stacking $SOL & $ETH
-Upexi now holds 1.8M SOL (~$367M)
-GameSquare: $52M in $ETH + a CryptoPunk treasury anchor
10/ Galaxyâs Steve Kurz calls this "Phase One" of corporate crypto adoption.
But we should also be mindful of systemic risksâmost corp buys happened at higher levels, unlike MicroStrategyâs early $BTC entries.
11/ đ Meanwhile, ETH unstaking has drawn attentionâŠ
350K $ETH ($1.3B) in exit queue raised alarms.
But some point out that entry queues are even higher, signaling continued staking demand.
12/ There was also a stETH depeg scare, triggered by a traderâs withdrawal from Aave â borrow rates spiked from 3% â 18%.
This didnât crash ETH, but itâs a reminder:
â CeFi and DeFi are now tightly linked
â Systemic risk is real in a world of staked spot ETFs
13/ đš The TL;DR?
-$ETH is outperforming
-Macro + regulatory + ETF flows = big tailwinds
-Short-term could get choppy
-Long-term still bullish
-Institutions are deep in the game now
Keep watching the $4K level đ
14/ If ETH breaks out, altcoin season could kick off for real.
Not all tokens will runâbut the ones with fundamentals might moon. đ
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