Reasons for Ethereum’s growth and prerequisites for a new altseason
The leading altcoin, Ethereum, updated its all-time high for the first time since November 2021. As of August 2025, the ETH cryptocurrency exceeded the $4,800 mark for the first time.
After nearly four years of consolidation, corrections, and skepticism, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has reasserted itself as both a technological and investment leader — a landmark event for the crypto market. In this article, we will examine how sustainable this growth is and whether it signals the start of a new altseason.
Why have Ethereum and other altcoins started growing again?
Analysts believe that the new wave of rapid growth in Ethereum is linked to an influx of significant capital. However, experts continue to debate what exactly triggered this trend: the Ethereum network's technological upgrades or the general increase in interest toward cryptocurrencies.
Analysts also note that breaking the all-time high was not driven by retail hype, but rather by institutional demand following the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs back in 2024.
The consequences of the approval and launch of Ethereum ETFs have been as follows:
- Increased inflow of institutional investments;
- Large pension and hedge funds added ETH to their portfolios;
- Improved trust in Ethereum from regulators in the EU and Asia.
All this played a role in Ethereum's positive momentum. According to Coinglass, as of August 2025, the market capitalization of spot Ethereum ETFs exceeded $26 billion. Analysts predict this figure could grow to $40 billion by the end of 2025.
In addition, according to Matrixport, the volume of corporate ETH — purchased by large public companies — grew roughly 10x over the past year to $3.5 billion, further confirming rising institutional interest in Ethereum.
Analysts at The Block believe that Ethereum's network upgrades and the development of its L2 ecosystem have also contributed to ETH's price growth. The advancement of layer-2 solutions improved the overall performance of the Ethereum ecosystem and made it more user-friendly.
Experts suggest this attracted not only retail traders but also corporate market participants, who are beginning to integrate Ethereum into their services. Ethereum updates, such as Dencun and Pectra, also helped attract new developers to the ecosystem, fueling its growth in the DeFi sector.
Is altseason starting?
A sharp and prolonged rise in major altcoins may signal the start of the so-called "altcoin season" (altseason) under certain conditions, such as a drop in Bitcoin Dominance.
Many media outlets are already calling current events the beginning of a new altseason. Market metrics also point in this direction. For example, over the past month, BTC dominance dropped by more than 10% — from a peak of 64.5% to 58.5%. Meanwhile, Ethereum's dominance increased 1.5x during this period — from 9.2% to 13.8%. The total altcoin market share grew from 26.3% to 27.4%.
This came amid increased on-chain activity in Ethereum. According to Token Terminal, as of August 2025, the number of daily active users on the Ethereum network reached a new all-time high of 590,000 — up 70% over the past year.
At the same time, Ethereum's daily trading volume on exchanges has more than quadrupled since the start of 2025 — from $15 billion to $63 billion. The total value locked (TVL) in Ethereum's DeFi ecosystem also approached its all-time high, reaching $158 billion.
Ethereum's limited supply on the market also played a role, as the amount of ETH locked in staking reached record levels, exceeding two-thirds of the total coins in circulation.
Signs of an altseason also include the fact that many other large altcoins have shown significant growth since the start of 2025:
- XRP (XRP) — 49%
- Binance Coin (BNB) — 21%
- TRON (TRX) — 42%
- Hyperliquid (HYPE) — 89%
- Stellar (XLM) — 27%
What's next?
If no new external factors emerge that could trigger a market correction, the upward trend could continue until 2026. According to the average forecast, Ethereum's price could reach $6,200 by the end of 2025 and $7,800 by the end of 2026.
One of the highest predictions for ETH by the end of 2025 comes from Standard Chartered analysts, who believe the altcoin could reach $7,500. They have raised their previous forecast by $2,500. They also estimate that the value of the leading altcoin could rise to $25,000 by 2028.
Experts note that increased network activity alone is not enough to sustain long-term ETH growth. Future growth, in their view, will depend on factors such as capital inflows into Ethereum ETFs and the accumulation of ETH in public company portfolios.
However, some analysts do not rule out negative scenarios. For example, some believe that if no additional growth drivers appear soon, the crypto market could enter a correction phase as early as this fall.