"Institutional capital is rotating, and Ethereum is the first stop," one analyst put it last week, as spot ETF data confirmed what many had been quietly watching build for days. After months of brutal outflows that wiped 35% off Bitcoin's price and drained roughly $4.5 billion from digital asset funds in June alone, the tide is turning. Quietly at first, then all at once.

Ethereum products pulled in $105 million in net inflows for the week, according to SoSoValue data, outpacing Bitcoin's $75 million and leading what looks like a broad institutional rotation into altcoins. The weekly finish was strong enough to sustain sentiment even after some mid-week dips. Corporate treasury buyers played a visible role: BitMine Technologies disclosed a fresh purchase of 7,430 ETH, pushing its total holdings past 577,468 tokens. The company has publicly stated it wants to hold 5% of Ethereum's entire circulating supply, a target that puts serious buying pressure behind each announcement. Two consecutive weeks of rising ETF volumes suggest this isn't a one-off.

Bitcoin wasn't left behind, just outshone. Spot BTC ETFs recorded $75 million in inflows, continuing a recovery that began the previous week with $197 million, a sharp reversal after the summer bloodbath. Analysts are now flagging easing liquidations as a sign that the worst of the sell-off pressure may be fading, though several still caution that retail investors remain exposed to sudden risk-off moves. The broader signal, though, is that traditional investors are re-entering through spot ETF wrappers, using them as a relatively familiar route to gain crypto exposure without direct custody.

Solana and XRP rounded out the recovery in smaller but meaningful amounts. Spot SOL ETFs added $948,200, driven largely by renewed interest in decentralized finance activity on the network. XRP ETFs posted $6.7 million in inflows, which tracked closely with reports of XRP whale accumulation the week prior. With institutional money now moving across more than just Bitcoin, the altcoin rally that analysts have been calling for this quarter is starting to look less like a prediction and more like a current event.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset.