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Is Ethereum’s breakout the beginning of Altcoin season?

PLUS: ETH outperforms BTC, Wintermute runs out of ETH, and U.S. crypto law inches forward.

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Cryptopolitan News
July 17, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

🧠 Is Ethereum’s breakout the beginning of Altcoin season?

After months of Bitcoin dominance, something shifted this week and Ethereum lit the fuse.

ETH surged past $3,400, climbing more than 23% in just 7 days. For the first time in this cycle, traders are asking: is Ethereum leading us into a full-blown altcoin season?

There are signs everywhere.

Bitcoin cools, Ethereum takes the wheel

While BTC hit a new ATH above $123K, it has since dropped back to $118K, losing momentum.

In that pause, ETH has taken center stage, outperforming BTC, gaining ground on the ETH/BTC pair (reached ~0.029), and drawing serious capital inflows across spot, derivatives, and institutional channels.

Even the $3.81 trillion market cap of the crypto sector suggests rising interest beyond just Bitcoin.

Whales, treasuries, and Trump are buying ETH

ETH’s surge isn’t just hype, it’s backed by deep pockets and shifting priorities.

  • Donald Trump’s World Liberty Fund added another 3,007 ETH, bringing its total holdings to 70,505 ETH, worth over $230M

  • SharpLink Gaming bought 111,609 ETH in 8 days, worth $343M

  • Wallet 0x35fb pulled $300M+ worth of ETH off exchanges last week

Treasuries are evolving. Where once it was BTC or bust, firms like BitDigital (BTBT) are now reallocating to Ethereum. Their stock surged to a yearly high after confirming the switch.

ETFs confirm it: ETH is no longer just "tech"

On Wednesday, ETH ETFs had their biggest day ever:

  • $726.7M in inflows in 24 hours

  • BlackRock’s ETHA pulled in $500M

  • Fidelity’s FETH added $113M

  • ETH ETF assets now total $16.41B

With $2.27B flowing in this July alone, this rally is being validated by Wall Street capital.

This isn't just Ethereum. It’s a rotation.

ETH is up 117% in the past 90 days, but that’s not the whole story.

Open interest across altcoin markets is growing. Liquidations are clearing. Traders are rotating out of overheated BTC plays into the ecosystem tokens and ETH is the first one.

Ethereum-linked companies like SharpLink and BTBT are seeing their stock prices rally, often a signal that the next wave of capital is coming.

But who’s selling?

Not everyone is holding. Some whales are locking in profits:

  • Trend Research offloaded 79,470 ETH for $250M

  • A high-profile ETH whale dumped 98K ETH but still holds 35K

  • Even the Infini exploit hacker cashed out 1,770 ETH, making $6M

Despite this, ETH has held its gains: a signal that new buyers are absorbing the exits.

The bottom line

Ethereum’s rally isn’t just a chart move: it’s a sentiment shift.

For the first time in this cycle, ETH is showing strength on every front: institutional inflows, whale accumulation, treasury moves, and ecosystem attention.

If this continues, it may not be just an ETH run. It may be the start of the altcoin season traders have been waiting for.

The U.S. government does not hold 198,012 BTC. It holds exactly 28,988.35643016 BTC. That’s it. This number comes straight from the U.S. Marshals Service, which confirmed it in writing.

📈 Market Watch

Market-making giant Wintermute just revealed that its OTC desk has run out of ETH. Founder Evgeny Gaevoy confirmed the news on X, calling attention to a silent but aggressive wave of whale accumulation that’s drained available liquidity behind the scenes.

The announcement came as ETH touched $3,446, raising fresh questions: Is Ethereum entering a real supply crunch?

What’s behind the shortage?

Wintermute’s public wallets show holdings have dropped from 27,000 ETH on July 10 to just 8,155 ETH.

That’s not unusual for them: the firm often clears its books after large OTC trades but this time, the low reserves align with a broader shift.

  • Whale activity is surging

  • Institutions are buying quietly

  • Retail is focused on memes, while OTC desks are bleeding ETH

Wintermute isn’t alone. Galaxy Digital saw similar depletion, dropping from 70K to 55K ETH as one whale placed a $14M spot order. OTC deals don’t always move price — but they move control.

Supply is growing — but demand is faster

Ethereum is still slightly inflationary, adding about 16K ETH per week, with ~0.7% annual inflation.
Yet supply is tightening because of:

  • 30% of ETH now staked, much of it long-term

  • Funds like BlackRock soaking up new supply

  • Over 2M ETH now held by BlackRock alone

  • One ETF buy this month alone (159,100 ETH) = 2+ months of net issuance

Even with new coins entering the system, liquid tokens are disappearing from the open market.

The bigger picture

ETH hasn’t touched $4,000 since December 2024 but it’s closing in fast. What makes this run different is that few whales are selling, and even fewer are doing it on exchanges. They’re staking, lending, or quietly locking ETH away.

The crypto market added 24% on average in Q2, returning most crypto prices to highs not seen since January. Based on Coingecko data, Q2 showed gradual growth, while deeper trading trends shifted among market participant profiles.

🇺🇸 Regulation Watch

Crypto week lives on — After record-breaking vote unlocks key bills

Crypto regulation is finally moving again in the U.S., but it took a political meltdown to get there.

After nearly 10 hours, the longest vote in House history, lawmakers passed the rule needed to bring major crypto bills to the floor. The final vote came in at 217–212, unlocking momentum that had completely stalled just 24 hours earlier.

It all started when 13 conservative Republicans blocked the vote on Tuesday.
They wanted a guaranteed ban on a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Trump personally stepped in, promising the bills would move quickly but chaos followed instead.

To win the holdouts back, GOP leaders made a deal: they agreed to move the anti-CBDC provision into the must-pass NDAA defense bill. That gave conservatives a win without derailing the entire crypto package.

Now, the House is expected to vote on the following:

  • GENIUS Act: Establishes a framework for stablecoins and payment tokens

  • CLARITY Act: Defines which agencies: SEC or CFTC will regulate crypto assets

  • Anti-CBDC bill: Moved separately into the defense package

If passed, this would be the first major digital asset legislation to advance in the U.S.

Meanwhile, another bill quietly entered the scene.

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) introduced a new crypto tax proposal to modernize how the IRS handles digital assets.
He called for changes that would make crypto more accessible to everyday users and businesses.

Highlights from Miller’s proposal:

  • Exempt small daily crypto purchases from tax

  • Clarify rules for staking, mining, and long-term holding

  • Update outdated wash-sale and retirement rules for digital assets

Why does this matter?

Without clear rules, U.S. crypto firms have operated in a legal gray zone for years.
If these bills pass, they could unlock regulatory clarity, spark institutional adoption, and reduce compliance risks across the board.

After years of delay and infighting, Washington may finally be ready to write crypto into the law, one vote at a time.

She argued that the bill will allow companies to detach from the SEC’s regulatory reach by digitizing themselves.

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17th July

On July 17, 2016, Ethereum Classic (ETC) was born after the Ethereum community split over the DAO hack. Those who opposed reversing the blockchain to recover stolen funds stuck with the original chain—creating ETC and upholding the principle: "code is law."

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