Ethereum has begun to outpace Bitcoin in terms of exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows following the implementation of the recent Pectra upgrade, signaling the early stages of what analysts believe could become a broader altcoin season.
This development was highlighted by Tracy Jin, COO at crypto exchange MEXC, who pointed out a clear shift towards Ethereum among institutional investors in the aftermath of the upgrade. According to Jin, Ethereum ETFs witnessed a remarkable 11-day consecutive inflow streak amounting to $630 million. In stark contrast, Bitcoin ETFs recorded three consecutive days of outflows totaling approximately $1.2 billion over the same period.
Jin noted that Ethereum is clearly positioned at the forefront of the market’s current transition into alternative cryptocurrencies. Supporting this claim, several altcoins such as XMR, ENA, HYPE, AAVE, and ARB recently posted daily gains exceeding 5%, significantly outperforming Bitcoin’s more modest 0.6% rise during the same recovery rally.
While these indicators point toward an increasing appetite for Ethereum and other altcoins, Jin emphasized that the market has not yet fully entered an official altcoin season. Currently, only 27 of the top 100 altcoins have managed to outperform Bitcoin over the last 90 days. Bitcoin’s market dominance remains notably high at around 63.1%, though Ethereum has made moderate advances, seeing its own market dominance increase by 2% during May.
Jin explained that historically, a true altcoin season only tends to fully manifest once Bitcoin’s market dominance significantly falls. She further suggested that such a scenario might become more pronounced should Bitcoin find long-term stability around the $100,000 psychological price level. If Bitcoin meets this condition, Ethereum could confidently surpass its key technical resistance at approximately $2,750 and potentially target prices as high as $3,200, according to her assessment.
In summary, signs of momentum in Ethereum ETF investments hint at broader institutional interest shifting toward alternatives to Bitcoin, largely driven by confidence-building developments such as the Pectra upgrade. However, widespread altcoin rallies will rely heavily on Bitcoin dominance receding further, a process that could unfold as the current market cycle evolves.
