Bitcoin ETF Inflows Drop While Ethereum Dominates: Altseason Incoming?
After suffering heavy losses over the past week, the cryptocurrency market has staged a relief rally over the past 24 hours, with Ethereum (ETH), BNB, and Solana (SOL) leading the way. Although Bitcoin (BTC) prices briefly rose to $96,000, a lack of sufficient bullish sentiment resulted in a sudden retracement to around $94,000 in early European trading on Tuesday, December 24.
The altcoin sector recorded even higher gains as more investors continue to anticipate a parabolic surge in the first half of 2025. Furthermore, driven by mainstream adoption by institutional investors, Bitcoin price has outperformed most altcoins over the past year despite returns.
Ethereum cash flow surpassed Bitcoin on Monday
On Monday, the U.S. Ethereum spot ETF recorded a net cash inflow of approximately US$130 million, and the cumulative net inflow totaled approximately US$2.46 billion. BlackRock’s ETHA reported net cash inflows of over $89 million and therefore currently holds over 1 million ETH. Fidelity’s FETH recorded a net cash inflow of $46 million on Monday and now has more than $1.6 billion in total assets under management.
Meanwhile, most U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF issuers, with the exception of BlackRock’s IBIT, posted net cash outflows on Monday. Over the past three trading days, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF issuers have accumulated cash outflows of more than $1.1 billion.
Alternative seasons on the horizon
Bitcoin’s dominance on the weekly timeframe has broken out of a rising wedge that began early last year. With an increasing number of whale investors making strategic investments in the altcoin industry, it is safe to assume that altcoins will outperform the Bitcoin price in the coming months.
The existence of over 12,000 altcoins in the cryptocurrency industry means that existing liquidity is severely diluted. As a result, some altcoins may not experience a full-blown parabolic rally in the coming months.
In the anticipated altcoin season, cryptocurrency investors should carefully consider DeFi tokens that solve real-world problems, community-backed meme coins, well-funded second-tier tokens, and tokens focused on artificial intelligence.
