The Battle for Crypto’s Throne

PLUS: Bitcoin nears ATH, Ethereum ETF flows take the lead, mystery whale stacks 221K ETH, and $653M in token unlocks hit this week.

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Cryptopolitan News
August 11, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Welcome back, friends —

Bitcoin’s within striking distance of its all-time high but Ethereum’s making its own power move.

ETF inflows, corporate treasuries, and even a mystery whale are stacking ETH like the flippening isn’t just a meme anymore.

Meanwhile, $653M in token unlocks are about to test the market’s appetite.

Let’s break it down.

The battle for crypto’s throne

Bitcoin is storming toward its all-time high. Ethereum is racing to take the crown.

Bitcoin opened the week above $122,000 just a hair’s breadth from July’s record of $123,218. The rally has fresh fuel: Donald Trump’s 401(k) order, which could let millions of Americans add Bitcoin to their retirement portfolios, and $253 million in inflows to spot BTC ETFs last week. It’s the kind of steady institutional bid that keeps the king’s momentum alive.

But while Bitcoin pushes higher, Ethereum is stealing the spotlight. ETH has broken above $4,300 for the first time since its 2021 peak, riding a breakout from a Wyckoff accumulation pattern that traders say could send it to $6,000, $10,000 maybe even $20,000 in the most aggressive forecasts. The flippening where Ethereum’s market cap overtakes Bitcoin’s has gone from meme to market thesis.

That shift is showing up in the numbers:

  • ETH ETFs pulled in $461M last week, topping Bitcoin’s inflows.

  • Bitcoin dominance is sliding for the first time since late 2022.

  • Corporate treasuries are now adding ETH for staking yields and tokenized asset exposure.

Ethereum’s co-founder says the gap could close within a year. Others aren’t so sure. Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow warns this could be a rotation play — big BTC whales pumping ETH to ride the hype before flipping back into Bitcoin at the top.

For now, the market’s watching a rare duel at the top: Bitcoin as the incumbent, Ethereum as the challenger, both powered by fresh institutional money. The rest of 2025 might be decided by which one can hold the narrative.

💡 Quick Explainer — What’s the Flippening?
A potential milestone where Ethereum’s total market value surpasses Bitcoin’s. It’s never happened before, but rising ETH adoption, ETF inflows, and staking yields have put it back on the table.

TL;DR — The state of play

  • Bitcoin: Touched $122K and near ATH

  • Ethereum: Touched $4.3K with eyes on $6K–$10K

  • Institutional flows: ETH > BTC last week

  • 2025 might crown a new #1… or prove Bitcoin’s throne is unshakable

Institutions stack ETH but old whales cash out

Ethereum’s rally is being powered by two very different forces:

  • Long-term buyers including corporate treasuries and ETFs — steadily building positions.

  • Older whales quietly taking profits near the highs.

ETH closed Sunday above $4,320, holding firm at 0.035 BTC, its highest in nearly four years. On the busiest ETF days, up to 117,000 ETH has been absorbed, far more than the network produces, with annualized supply growth at just 0.78%. The result? The actual liquid supply is shrinking fast.

The mysterious whale treasury
One of the most eye-catching buyers is an unidentified whale building a massive ETH treasury. Already sitting on 171K ETH, the entity recently added 49,533 ETH at near-peak prices, bringing its total stash to 221,166 ETH. The coins are split across multiple wallets, a modern twist on treasury security to avoid the single-address risks common in early crypto days.

Some suspect the buyer is linked to large corporate treasuries like BitMine or SharpLink Gaming. Neither has confirmed, but the pattern fits: bulk buys, multiple cold wallets, and no staking activity yet.

Exchange reserves & staking flows

  • Global ETH exchange reserves are near all-time lows at 18.89M ETH.

  • Binance’s ETH holdings have been climbing since May, likely due to deposits into its liquid staking program. Binance now controls 8.32% of the liquid staking market.

  • Corporate treasuries are using staking yields as a form of passive income, SharpLink reportedly stakes immediately after purchase.

But not everyone is buying
Some early ETH ICO participants are locking in gains. One sold 2,300 ETH recently, almost their entire original allocation. Against Bitcoin, ETH still trades near the lower range (0.035 BTC vs. the ICO peak of 0.14 BTC), which could make current levels tempting for profit-taking.

Retail activity remains muted, with institutions dominating both the spot market and staking demand. For everyday users, DeFi platforms still offer a slice of those yields, but the big accumulation is clearly corporate-driven.

💡 Quick Explainer — Why exchange reserves matter
Lower exchange reserves usually mean less selling pressure, coins are in wallets, not order books. When reserves drop while demand rises (via ETFs, treasuries, staking), prices tend to trend higher.

TL;DR — ETH Tug-of-War

  • Institutions & ETFs are soaking up ETH supply.

  • Mystery whale holds 221K ETH.

  • Exchange reserves at record lows.

  • Early whales are taking chips off the table.

  • Corporate buyers are staking for yield; retail’s still on the sidelines.

Tokens our finance team is watching

Pump.fun buybacks are near their peak after the platform once again recovered higher daily fee levels.

$PUMP is clawing back from all-time lows on record buybacks, closing in on its ICO price of $0.0036. The meme launchpad Pump.fun has shifted to a curated model, funding buybacks for select tokens and it’s working. So far, 0.67% of supply has been repurchased, backed by daily fees now topping $2M.

Whales are still offloading, slowing the climb, but the buyback program is giving PUMP a “HYPE-style” second life.

$TOKABU — the “Spirit of Gambling” meme backed by the Glass Full Foundation stole the show with a 65% daily pump, peaking at $0.06 before cooling to $0.054. That’s a 100x in under 20 days. Profit-taking is now underway, making it high-risk near current levels.

Token unlocks to watch this week

This week, over $653M worth of tokens are scheduled to be released, led by Fasttoken (FTN) and Aptos (APT). Other notable projects seeing big supply hits include ARB, AVAX, SEI, STRK, LAYEY, CYBER, and ZK.

Quick Explainer:

  • Single Unlock: A one-time release of a large token batch which can cause sharp, short-term price pressure.

  • Linear Unlock: Gradual release over days/weeks, it spreads out the impact, but still adds steady sell pressure.

Top Token Analysts & Value Hunters to follow on X

Here are Cryptopolitan’s top picks:

@EMostaque – Former Stability AI CEO and a leading voice in open-source AI. Shares sharp takes on AI’s decentralization, ethics, and how it intersects with crypto.

@LynAldenContact – Macro strategist blending global finance with Bitcoin insights. Her threads break down liquidity cycles, debt markets, and the role of BTC in the evolving monetary system.

@CryptoKaleo – Master of chart-based storytelling. Tracks emerging narratives from meme coins to macro-driven breakouts with precision and clear visuals.

@TaschaLabs – Bridges macroeconomics and crypto adoption. Known for deep, data-backed threads explaining how policy shifts and tech adoption shape the next market cycles.

@punk6529 – Philosopher-king of crypto. Known for big-picture, mind-bending threads on NFTs, metaverse rights, and why digital property matters in the next decade.

Intern’s Picks: Let’s make your Monday better

Grumpy Cat GIF by Nebraska Humane Society

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