Market context
ETH closed the week at fresh multi-month highs after tagging $2,500 on Friday, a level traders had been circling since the summer drawdown. U. Today framed it plainly: this is shaping up as almost the best Q3 in Ethereum's history, with the token recovering more than 55% from its June low.
Bitcoin, by contrast, settled at $77,000 after a volatile week that saw its own spot ETF complex hemorrhage cash. The flow rotation is the story to watch. Ethereum spot ETFs stayed net positive through the week, capped by a strong Friday session that coincided with the eight-month high, per CryptoPotato.
Bitcoin funds lost roughly $462 million over the same window, per AMBCrypto, the sharpest weekly outflow of the current cycle. It's the first stretch of 2026 where the flow picture unambiguously favors ETH over BTC on a weekly basis. Dominance metrics agree.
ETH reclaimed more than 11% of the total crypto market cap, a level it had ceded during the summer as capital rotated into large-cap alts and privacy names like ZEC and XMR, both of which ran hard on the daily. The dominance recovery matters because it signals the rotation isn't just a beta trade off Bitcoin; capital is choosing ETH specifically.
Technical setup
On the daily chart, ETH is compressed near the top of the recent range, with $2,500 acting as the pivot. CryptoPotato's read is that the post-rally consolidation looks like a continuation setup rather than a distribution top, though the CPI-driven fakeout earlier in the week is a reminder that confirmation matters. A daily close above $2,600 with volume opens the door to $2,800 as the next real resistance, and $3,000 becomes the psychological magnet from there.