Something feels off about last week in the world of crypto exchange-traded funds, and I think we need to talk about it honestly. US spot bitcoin ETFs recorded roughly US$8.05 billion in trading volume across the five sessions ending Friday. That marks their lowest total for a full trading week since October 2024. Let that sink in for a moment. We are looking at a nearly two-year low in activity for products that dominated headlines and attracted billions in capital throughout the prior cycle.
The funds drew just US$33.8 million in net inflows for the entire week, a figure that looks almost negligible when you consider that nearly US$500 million of inflows had accumulated through Wednesday before the final two sessions erased almost all of that progress. I find this pattern telling. It suggests that conviction among institutional allocators remains fragile, and that late-week profit-taking or risk-off positioning can undo days of accumulation in a matter of hours.
What makes this picture even more interesting is the contrast with spot ether ETFs. These funds attracted US$103.9 million in net inflows, more than three times what the bitcoin products managed, and they outperformed their larger counterparts for a second consecutive week. Over the past three weeks, ether funds have drawn nearly as much capital as bitcoin ETFs despite holding about one-eighth as much in net assets.
I read this as a clear signal that investors are hunting for the next leg of growth beyond bitcoin. They see Ethereum as the asset with more room to run relative to its current size, and the flow data confirms that appetite in no uncertain terms. The rotation is real, and it carries implications for how we think about portfolio construction in digital assets going forward.
Zooming out to the broader market, the total crypto capitalisation rose 1.31 per cent to US$2.23 trillion over the past 24 hours. The primary engine behind this move is regulatory optimism fuelling institutional flows. I also note a strong 73 per cent correlation with the S&P 500 over the past week, which tells me this is not purely a crypto-native rally.
Macro forces are pulling digital assets higher alongside equities, and any investor who treats crypto as a completely isolated asset class is missing half the story. The shared macro-driven move means that traditional risk sentiment, interest rate expectations, and equity market momentum all feed directly into crypto pricing right now.
The regulatory narrative deserves closer attention because I believe it represents the single most powerful catalyst available to this market. Social chatter is rife with rumours of a BlackRock XRP ETF filing, and the CLARITY Act has entered final Senate negotiations. Together, these developments are boosting sentiment for major digital commodities like ETH and XRP. The market is reacting to the prospect of reduced legal uncertainty and expanded ETF products beyond Bitcoin. I think the significance here is hard to overstate.
For years, regulatory ambiguity has kept large pools of institutional capital on the sidelines. If the CLARITY Act passes and establishes a clear digital commodity taxonomy, it removes one of the biggest objections that compliance teams at major firms have raised. We could see a structural shift in how traditional finance engages with crypto, and current pricing may reflect only a fraction of that potential.
Ethereum itself stands as the clearest beneficiary of this environment. ETH significantly outperformed the broader market over the past seven days, gaining 4.17 per cent compared to a 0.82 per cent advance for the wider crypto space. Social sentiment around Ethereum reads as extremely bullish, with traders highlighting positions like a US$63 million long that circulated widely across social platforms.
At the same time, the Altcoin Season Index climbed to 55, indicating that capital is rotating into higher-beta assets beyond the top two names. I see this as a healthy sign for market breadth. When Ethereum leads, and altcoins follow, it typically reflects genuine risk appetite rather than speculative froth concentrated in a single token. The ETH/BTC pair maintaining its strength would confirm continued altcoin leadership, and I will be watching that ratio closely in the sessions ahead.
Looking at the near-term technical picture, the market faces immediate resistance at the recent swing high of US$2.26 trillion. A break above this level, potentially triggered by confirmed positive regulatory news, could open a path toward US$2.32 trillion.
On the downside, failure to hold the 23.6 per cent Fibonacci support at US$2.21 trillion would suggest the current move lacks conviction and risk a pullback into consolidation. I view these levels as the battleground for the coming week. The bulls need a concrete catalyst to push through resistance, and the bears need only patience and a missed regulatory deadline to reclaim control.
My overall read on this market is cautiously bullish. The rise rests on a potent mix of regulatory hope and strong ecosystem performance, particularly from Ethereum. Sentiment has improved meaningfully, and the flow data into ether products supports the thesis that smart money is positioning ahead of clarity.
The move still needs to clear key technical hurdles to sustain momentum, and I do not take that requirement lightly. The question I keep returning to is whether the upcoming week will deliver the regulatory clarity the market is pricing in, or whether this turns out to be a classic buy-the-rumour setup that fades once headlines arrive.
I lean toward the former, but I would never bet the farm on legislative timelines. The data supports optimism. The calendar demands patience. And as always in this market, the traders who manage risk while staying engaged will fare far better than those who swing for the fences on a single headline.
Source: https://e27.co/is-ether-quietly-stealing-bitcoins-throne-as-the-institutional-favorite-20260727/
Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.
Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.
An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.
