Ethereum outshines Bitcoin with surprise rally past $2,500

Ethereum is back in the spotlight after jumping 42% over the past week to trade above $2,500, a level it hasn’t touched since March.

This marks one of its most notable breakouts in over a year, signaling renewed investor confidence.

On-chain data from Sentora (formerly IntoTheBlock) shows that this rally has pushed more than 60% of Ethereum addresses into profit. That’s nearly double the 32% recorded just a month earlier, highlighting the strength of the market’s turnaround.

Ethereum’s Profitable Addresses (Source: Sentora)Moreover, the rally puts ETH ahead of Bitcoin in terms of recent performance. While Bitcoin climbed just 10% in the same period to surpass $105,000, Ethereum’s sharper rise has surprised many in the market.

The rally has triggered speculation that Ethereum could be entering a new bullish phase after months of sluggish performance. Sean Dawson, head of research at Dervive.xyz, told CryptoSlate:

“ETH has a 20% chance of exceeding $4,000 by Christmas (up from 9% last week) and a 12% chance of hitting $5,000. The chance of ETH falling below $1,500 by Christmas has dropped to 15% (down from 40%).”

What is driving Ethereum’s outperformance?

Market analysts have pointed out that several key factors, including recent technical improvements, rising institutional backing, and easing global tensions, appear to be fueling Ethereum’s recent surge.

Last week, Ethereum completed its highly anticipated Pectra upgrade, which unlocked a new set of features for the blockchain network.

The update introduced improvements across the network’s wallet functionality, streamlined validator performance, and expanded Layer 2 support. These upgrades are expected to make Ethereum more efficient and easier to use across decentralized finance applications.

Another factor driving ETH’s rally is the fact that several traditional financial institutions, including BlackRock, are deepening their use of Ethereum’s infrastructure through real-world asset tokenization.

According to data from RWA.xyz, this sector has grown over 10% in the past 30 days, reaching a combined value of $22.1 billion. Ethereum leads the market with $6.9 billion locked in tokenized assets and controls 58% of the market share.

Meanwhile, macroeconomic developments are also lifting sentiment in the broader market.

A new trade agreement between the US and UK, alongside a temporary pause in US-China tariff escalations, has helped ease investor fears.

These geopolitical developments support a broader risk-on mood in global markets, giving Ethereum further room to rise.

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