Ethereum Soars Past $3,400 Sparking Altcoin Season Buzz as Alts Fly

Ethereum‘s price has reclaimed momentum, climbing above the $3,400 level for the first time since mid-January, according to CryptoSlate’s data. The asset posted a strong 9% rally in the past 24 hours, marking a significant recovery after months of underperformance compared to Bitcoin. Dean Chen, an analyst at Bitunix, noted that ETH’s recent rally follows a steep downturn in April when tariff shocks triggered widespread panic. Since then, Ethereum has climbed more than 150%, far outpacing Bitcoin’s 65% gain over the same period. This divergence suggests a growing risk appetite among traders looking beyond BTC for more substantial returns.

Ryan Adams, the co-founder of Bankless, said: “We’re finally talking about ETH the asset and slowly starting to value it the way it should be valued. As a world reserve asset. ETH is like gold or bitcoin with yield.” This is evidenced by the growing inflows into the US-listed spot Ethereum ETFs. On July 16, the nine funds recorded over $726 million in fresh capital, reflecting a clear sign of growing investor confidence. At the same time, Ethereum is gaining ground as a treasury asset, with firms like Sharplink Gaming and Bitmine Immersion Technology recently adding ETH to their balance sheets. These companies have accumulated more than $1.6 billion worth of ETH in the past month.

Thomas Lee, Chairman of Bitmine and CIO of Fundstrat, noted that Ethereum tends to follow the same trajectory as small-cap stocks. This suggests that rising risk appetite and potential Fed rate cuts later this year could further support ETH’s price. On prediction markets like Polymarket, 70% of traders expect ETH to hit $4,000 before year’s end, and 40% believe it could go as high as $5,000. This aligns with forecasts from Consensys, which projects a year-end price of $4,900 and a long-term target of $15,800 by 2028.