Ethereum posts biggest weekly gain in 4 years as Bitcoin, XRP, and SOL surge

Ethereum just pulled off the wildest comeback it’s had in four years. This week, the second-biggest crypto jumped 25%, the largest weekly gain it’s posted since May 2021.

The rally didn’t happen in isolation. The entire crypto market heated up, and Bitcoin led the charge—holding its ground well above $100,000.

At press time, Bitcoin stood at $103,249, up 2% for the day, with earlier highs hitting $104,324, the strongest since late January, according to data from CoinGecko.

Bitcoin closed the week more than 6% higher and logged its fourth straight winning week, the first time that’s happened since November. All this came as whales kept buying, ETFs broke records, and macro news lightened up.

According to CNBC, investors started to relax after the US–UK trade mini-deal and signs of potential tariff relief with China, which helped riskier assets get a lift—including crypto.

Bitcoin leads while Ether, Solana, and XRP claw back ground

The market-wide rebound didn’t skip the altcoins, though they’re still far behind. Ether, after dragging for most of the year, saw a two-day rise of 29%, driven by its strong 10% gain on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Solana’s token went up 6% and posted a 16% two-day jump. For the full week, Solana added 14.3%, its best weekly move since January. XRP, riding high off the conclusion of the infamous SEC-Ripple case, has surged by 5.1% in the past twenty-four hours.

Part of Ether’s surge came after Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade went live. That network update cut fees, made staking easier, and introduced support for smart wallets. That gave traders a push to jump in, especially those who had been avoiding the token due to network congestion and high gas costs.

Still, Ether and Solana haven’t recovered from earlier losses. Year-to-date, Ether is down 31%, and Solana is down 12%, even after the rebound. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is up 10% for the year. XRP is the only major altcoin that didn’t lose ground over that stretch.

ETF flows boost Bitcoin while altcoins lack real buyers

Bitcoin’s structure changed fast after spot ETFs launched in 2024. The money now comes from retirement portfolios, macro hedge funds, and even corporate bond strategies. That kind of buyer base is sticky since it doesn’t panic-sell, so it’s given Bitcoin a clear edge.

Altcoins still rely on traditional crypto-native capital—money that reacts quickly to rate hikes, tech sector moves, and social media trends. Eric Chen, co-founder of Injective, said altcoins haven’t seen the same level of demand because the current interest rate setup hasn’t allowed the tech sector or speculative capital to grow meaningfully.

Eric also warned that unless new demand shows up, Ether and other altcoins might go lower before going higher. He pointed to their steady supply and the absence of any structural buyer base as the main risk.

Over at Wolfe Research, analyst Read Harvey agreed. “There remains one singular strategy for crypto investors: stick to BTC until risk on headwinds dissipate,” Read said in a note. He added that Bitcoin is one of just two assets in their basket that’s in the green this year. The question now, according to him, is whether Bitcoin can keep outperforming other assets like stocks—or if it’s gold, not crypto, that ends up being the safer long-term play.