Ether leads weekly gains among top 10 cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin flirts with $100,000

Ether has outperformed Bitcoin and other top altcoins within the last seven days, according to The Block’s price page. The weekly timeframe showed ETH was up about 5.7% by Thursday, more than any other cryptocurrency in the top 10 by market capitalization. 

ETH’s ascent this week followed institutional demand since April. CoinShares reported two consecutive weeks of inflows to spot Ether exchange-traded funds. Speculators also suggested the Pectra upgrade activated on May 7 might have also bolstered prices, but Nansen Research Analyst Nicolai Sondergaard said otherwise.

“Many view the Pectra upgrade in a positive light, but I do not see how it will transform Ethereum immediately,” Sondergaard told The Block. “It will be a long-term process."

Instead, the Nansen expert proposed that technical factors and sentiment drove Ether’s recent surge. “I think lots of people still see ETH as somewhat cheap, and some charts have been going around, showing that ETH is ready for a breakout.”

Analyzing smart money

Sondergaard mentioned accumulation by “smart money” as another factor. Smart money means institutional investors and other large entities with substantial capital and deep market insight. The Nansen analyst said data showed firms like Wintermute buying ETH, likely for market-making returns.

“Smart money has also been accumulating some (even if many smart money holders are also dumping). Wintermute specifically acquired a lot these past 24 hours, maybe just to take advantage of increased interest and earning good fees from market making," Sondergaard said.

Lookonchain flagged similar activity. London-based Abraxas Capital withdrew 41,269 ETH worth over $75 million from Binance and Kraken since late Wednesday, per the onchain smart money tracker.

Zooming out, ETH was still below its March lows and 59% off its all-time high of $4,878. The ETH/BTC chart also remained at a five-year low since early April, according to TradingView. Per IntoTheBlock data, 65.5 million addresses holding ETH — nearly half of all global Ethereum wallets — sat in losses or were out-of-the-money.

Market rally

Ether's price leap was part of a broad crypto rally this week after U.S.-China trade negotiations put markets back into "risk on" mode. Despite the Federal Reserve's holding pattern on funding rates, the digital asset sector increased over 3% on May 8 and recovered to $3.2 trillion. Bitcoin touched $100,000 several times on Thursday but retreated afterwards, likely due to resistance at that level.

Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research, said BTC may require a more favorable macro environment to flip the resistance at $100,000 into support. "A clear break above this psychological barrier could hinge on consistent economic signals favoring policy easing," Lee noted.

Wincent Senior Director Paul Howard remarked that more positive news from the U.S. would push Bitcoin higher and benefit cryptocurrencies in general.

"Overall, we are seeing a net positive shift in risk assets, with Bitcoin advancing 2.7% over the past 24 hours," Howard shared in a note to The Block. "The market now anticipates a potential follow-through later this year, whether in the form of rate cuts or broader macroeconomic stimulus."