ETH spot volumes surge ahead of BTC for the first time in a year

As traders kept rolling into ETH, spot volumes surpassed BTC for the first time in a year. The trend reversal follows the recent spike in ETH derivative trading, briefly surpassing the volumes for BTC. 

Ethereum (ETH) spot volumes surpassed BTC trading for the first time in a year. During the latest price surge, ETH spot volumes broke out, as both retail and whales are trying to tap the token’s growth. 

As a result of increased interest in spot ETH, exchanges have seen a drawdown on their reserves, with around 8.9M ETH available on spot markets. Derivative exchanges hold around 10M ETH for collaterals. The top 10 exchanges have seen increased outflows in July, signaling additional accumulation to self-custodial wallets. 

For now, ETH behaves as a scarce resource, especially on days of peak demand from whales. Spot trading also reflects selling, as some short-term traders buy ETH only to realize profits. ETH whales are also trading their reserves often, to achieve a lower average ETH price. 

ETH outperformed on the weekly spot trading volumes, rising above BTC activity for the first time since June 2024. ETH spot volumes reached beyond $25.7B in the past week, while BTC stopped at $24.4B. 

The ETH rally is still seen as shaky, as the token failed to break above $4,000. After a hike above $3,800, ETH consolidated and slid to $3,579.95, though still remaining interesting for traders and spot buyers. The recent price correction follows long liquidations, as more than 91% of positions liquidated were longs. 

Despite the spike in ETH spot volumes, derivatives are still leading the market trends, especially when attacking specific positions. Following a recent short squeeze, ETH traders are now sweeping the long positions, potentially leading to a brief return to a lower price range. 

Is ETH overheated? 

The recent spike of ETH above $3,800 raised the problem of an overheating market. However, ETH has not shown irrational growth and generally moves with a similar pace to other altcoins. ETH dominance fell to 11.1% from a recent high of 11.2%. 

The token also traded around 0.03 BTC, down from a peak of 0.031 BTC. ETH has shown that short-term pullbacks are possible, though the underlying bullish factors remain. Open interest is close to the three-year high at over $23B, even after the latest liquidations. 

The Ethereum network currently carries the highest level of transactions since 2023, boosted by stablecoins and a recent renewed interest in NFTs. Daily active addresses are also standing consistently at over 500K. 

ETH transfers and USDT are the top on-chain activities, burning around 300 ETH coins daily. Another 91 ETH in fees is burned by USDC transfers. 

ETH accumulation resumes

Over the past week, ETFs kept buying ETH even as the BTC buying streak stopped after 12 days. Additionally, whales returned to ETH accumulation, with seven fresh wallets opened for accumulation in the past day. 

Fresh wallets have accumulated another 40,591 $ETH($148M) today.

Recently, 7 fresh wallets have accumulated 466,253 $ETH($1.7B).

0x8eEa received 138,345 $ETH($505M) from #FalconX in the past 5 days.https://t.co/DQQ8Pna5DX

0x9684 received 122,691 $ETH($448M) from #FalconX in… pic.twitter.com/I9KTZsmKPg

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 24, 2025

World Liberty Fi was also among the day’s buyers, adding another 561 ETH. While the amount was not substantial, it remained a signal of support. World Liberty Fi still uses its ETH for DeFi collaterals, often interacting with Aave.