Ether Nears Record Highs as ETF Demand Surges

Ether prices climbed to fresh 4½-year highs over the weekend, closing in on all-time highs as the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization continues its rapid rally.

Early Monday, ether was trading near $4,300—within striking distance of its November 2021 record of $4,800 set during the last crypto boom. After trailing bitcoin for much of 2025, ether has been on a tear in recent weeks.

In April, prices bottomed out below $1,500. As recently as June 22, ether was trading under $2,200. Since then, prices have almost doubled.



 

Spot Ether ETFs See Massive Inflows

One driver of the rally appears to be demand for spot ether ETFs. U.S.-listed spot ether ETFs have pulled in $7.1 billion of inflows so far in 2025, with $5.3 billion of that coming in the past month alone.

The largest of the group, the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), has seen assets under management soar nearly sevenfold since mid-April, from under $2 billion to almost $13 billion. Smaller funds, such as the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH), have also attracted inflows this year.

One notable exception is the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE), which has posted $675 million in year-to-date outflows, including $23 million in the past month. The fund’s 2.5% expense ratio is roughly 10 times higher than that of ETHA and FETH.

In total, U.S.-listed spot ether ETFs now hold more than $23 billion in assets, compared to over $150 billion for spot bitcoin ETFs.

Performance Gap With Bitcoin Closes

Year-to-date, ether is up 27%, matching bitcoin’s gain. The turnaround has been swift: in early August, ether was up less than 2% for the year versus nearly 20% for bitcoin. The recent surge reflects both a “catch-up” trade and renewed investor optimism about Ethereum’s ecosystem.

Part of that optimism stems from enthusiasm around stablecoins following the IPO of Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market value. The majority of stablecoins, including USDC, are issued on the Ethereum blockchain. 

Another driver has been the rise of “Ethereum treasury” companies like Bitmine Immersion Technologies and Sharplink Gaming, which are emulating MicroStrategy’s approach—only instead of bitcoin, they’re building their corporate balance sheets around ether.

Bulls argue that Ethereum, which led the last crypto boom with innovations like NFTs and decentralized finance, is regaining momentum after a period of consolidation.

While competition from rival smart contract platforms like Solana has weighed on sentiment at times, supporters say Ethereum’s development has continued apace, and the recent rally suggests investors are taking notice.