Can Ethereum Make A New All-Time High This Year?

Key Insights:

• Ether has surged 47% in 30 days. It is outperforming Bitcoin and most of the crypto market.
• Institutional inflows into Ether ETFs have reached new highs, and are fueling price momentum.
• ETH is growing from a utility token into a reserve asset for the digital economy.

Ethereum (ETH) has been on a tear lately. Over the past month, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency has surged by 47%, and recently touched $3,609. This stands as its highest price level in over two years, and the rally has caught the attention of both crypto investors and traditional financial institutions. 

Yet what’s driving this growth isn’t just market hype. According to analysts and fund managers, Ethereum’s resurgence is backed by real-world fundamentals, and this is why a new all time high could be inbound.

Record ETF Inflows Signal Institutional Confidence

On July 17, Ether ETFs in the U.S. saw a massive $727 million in inflows. This stands as the largest single-day figure since their launch in mid-2024. These funds effectively remove ETH from circulating supply, as coins are locked in cold storage. This is massively bullish for price, considering how reduced supply typically increases scarcity.

This level of institutional interest also mirrors the Bitcoin ETF frenzy that helped push BTC to its current all-time high of $122,000. Ethereum is now viewed through a similar lens, and investors are starting to treat it not just as a tech investment, but as a legitimate financial asset.

Fed Policy Uncertainty Adds Fuel to the Fire

Macroeconomic signals are also adding to the fire. Even though inflation ticked up slightly in June, political pressure is pushing the Federal Reserve toward a more dovish stance. 

US President Donald Trump, has openly advocated for rate cuts of up to 3 percentage points lately. Unless ETF inflows suddenly stall with aggressive hawkishness from the FED, the probability of a full retrace on ETH is unlikely.

In short, if the current market view continues to be encouraging, cryptocurrencies like ETH will continue to perform well.

$10,000 ETH?

Despite the optimism, the idea of Ethereum hitting $10,000 by the end of the year is still hotly debated. For starters, a rise like this would require a 190% increase in just five months. This is a feat ETH has only achieved twice, during the 2017 ICO bubble and the 2020–21 DeFi boom.

Such a move would be massively hard to accomplish, but isn’t impossible. For a rise like that to happen, multiple drivers will need to align including the ETF inflows, the addition of staking to ETFs and stronger institutional adoption, among other things.

Ethereum And Stablecoins

Unlike previous bull runs driven by hype around NFTs or meme coins, Ethereum’s current growth is closely tied to its role in trad-fi.

According to a new report from Electric Capital, Ethereum now supports over 54% of all stablecoins. These stablecoins have become important tools for cross-border finance, especially in inflation-prone markets.

Ethereum’s ability to meet the demands of the traditional financial space gives it a major edge over competitors. As stablecoins grow, Ethereum’s dominance in this space is likely to strengthen its case as a reserve asset over the years.

With Fidelity, Electric Capital and many other hedge funds now piling into the Ethereum market, it is clear that the asset is becoming more and more of a competitor to Bitcoin.