Ether continues to gain ground against Bitcoin, boosted by growing interest from institutional investors and, above all, the general public. In its latest weekly report, Coinbase notes positive momentum for ETH ETFs and renewed enthusiasm for altcoins, against a backdrop of waning BTC dominance. Is altseason on the way? The Fed will have the final say.
After Bitcoin, is it time for Ether ETFs?
The weekly report from crypto exchange Coinbase is out, and it’s positive. Positive for investors holding ETH or with part of their portfolio invested in a few altcoins, at least.
As Coinbase analysts point out, although it remains far from its December 2021 peak, the ETH/BTC ratio has literally doubled since the end of April 2025. The rise in the price of Ether is due in part to strong institutional activity, particularly on the treasury side.
Since the beginning of August, they have acquired more than $3.6 billion worth of ETH.
Finally, the same is true on the CME, as ether futures are trading at a significant premium to the spot price. The annualized futures basis rose from 7.4% in the week of August 4 to 10.4% last week, signaling renewed investor appetite.
But the most interesting point raised by Coinbase remains the return of retail, i.e., the general public.
According to 13F forms just filed by firms managing at least $100 million in assets (hedge funds, asset managers, banks, insurance companies, etc.), revealing the composition of various investment vehicles, it appears that retail investors are seriously positioning themselves in the Ethereum ETF market, with the share of institutional investors declining from 39% to 33% in this market segment.
The same observation can be made for Bitcoin ETFs: although institutional investors are growing in number, their share is declining, now accounting for 28% of total BTC ETF holdings.
“This suggests that retail investors are behind the impressive $12.8 billion in net inflows recorded by Bitcoin ETFs in the past quarter,” Coinbase said.
Heading for crypto altseason?
The famous “altcoin season,” where almost all cryptocurrencies other than BTC explode with the arrival of the mainstream, is visible through the fall in Bitcoin’s dominance. In this case, the latter has fallen by more than 10% since the end of June, reflecting a rotation towards other cryptocurrencies and “paving the way for widespread outperformance of altcoins,” according to Coinbase.
What’s more, we can see that BTC dominance closed below its 200-day moving average (200 DMA). But to definitively confirm this shift, we will need to see a drop in rates in September, according to Coinbase analysts.
Finally, to temper their comments, Coinbase analysts point out that open interest in altcoins is currently at a significant level, around 1.6. The last time this happened, there were chain liquidations, so these thresholds will need to be monitored.
A sustained drift towards ~1.2–1.3 would indicate orderly deleveraging and healthier conditions for further altcoin growth, while a sustained level above 1.4 would leave the market vulnerable to further shocks.
Coinbase analysts
Alt season or not? That will depend on the Fed’s decisions for September and October, which our analyst Vincent Ganne will be sure to monitor and report on in our columns.
