This week marks a historic moment for crypto markets: Bitcoin has officially crossed the $100,000 mark, triggering what many are calling the strongest rally since the U.S. presidential election last November. But Bitcoin isn’t the only star of the show — the real action is in altcoins.
On Tuesday, the entire top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap turned green, and nearly all of the top 100 printed double-digit gains. Bitcoin is up 10%, Ethereum skyrocketed 50% to over $2,600 after dipping near $1,800 just a week ago, XRP surged 21%, Solana climbed 27%, and Cardano’s ADA rallied 25%. Even meme coins are catching a second wind amid the frenzy.
Altcoin Season Awakens
Bitcoin dominance took a hit this week — down from its recent 65% peak to 62.25% — as altcoins outperformed the OG crypto. The Ethereum price action alone has reignited hopes of a long-awaited altcoin season.
ETH/BTC also tells a compelling story. The pair has bounced back from historical lows, with a jump in performance reminiscent of May 2024. This surge feels like a catch-up move for Ethereum, which still sits more than 50% below its all-time high, suggesting further upside potential.
The Liquidation Effect
As with many major rallies, leverage played a pivotal role. On May 8th, crypto markets witnessed the worst day of short liquidations in 2025. Over $394 million in Bitcoin futures and $670 million across the board were wiped out. ETH alone jumped 23% in a single day, outperforming BTC nearly fourfold — a clear sign that shorts got squeezed hard, fueling the bullish momentum.
Macro Tailwinds: Trade and Inflation
Part of this week’s crypto momentum can be traced back to macro developments. A breakthrough in the US-China trade war took place in Geneva over the weekend. The tentative deal includes a 90-day window where tariffs will be drastically reduced: U.S. tariffs on China will drop to 30%, and Chinese tariffs on U.S. imports will reduce to 10%. According to Fitch Ratings, this has brought the effective U.S. tariff rate down to 13.1%, from 22.8% previously.
Meanwhile, April’s CPI came in better than expected — down to 2.3% YoY compared to 2.4% in March. This has improved expectations for a potential Fed rate cut in September. Lower inflation hints at increased liquidity — a positive signal for risk assets like crypto.
Traditional Markets Join the Party
It wasn’t just crypto celebrating this week. The Nasdaq 100 jumped 4% on Monday. Both Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have fully recovered their Q1 losses and are now in the green for the year. The U.S. dollar showed signs of recovery, although it's still below pre-April levels. Gold, on the other hand, remains high — supported by rate cut expectations.
Institutional Momentum Continues
Despite the excitement, institutional netflows into crypto-linked investment products slowed to $882 million this week — half of last week’s inflow. Still, cumulative inflows into U.S. crypto ETFs have reached nearly $63 billion, a new all-time record.
Adoption is also picking up steam:
Dubai’s Finance Department signed an MoU with Crypto.com to enable service fee payments in crypto — part of Dubai’s goal to hit 90% cashless transactions by 2026.
Citibank projects the stablecoin market could hit $3.7 trillion by 2030.
Meta/Facebook is reportedly exploring stablecoins for cross-border payments, and Fidelity may launch its own stablecoin.
Tether (USDT) alone hit a $150 billion market cap this week, pushing the total stablecoin market past $243 billion — another historic high.
Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade Goes Live
Finally, Ethereum successfully implemented the Pectra upgrade last Wednesday, which includes EIP-7702 — also known as Account Abstraction.
In simpler terms, Account Abstraction allows one wallet to pay gas fees on behalf of another, which could greatly enhance user onboarding and UX. It decouples transactions from direct private key signatures, letting users authorize actions via messages. This could bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3 experiences.
While some security concerns linger, particularly around phishing, it’s a pivotal step forward in making Ethereum more accessible and developer-friendly.
What’s Next?
With strong macro support, a wave of liquidations, rising institutional interest, and key tech upgrades — crypto is roaring into a new chapter. But with all-time highs still ahead, especially for ETH and altcoins, the big question now is: how long can this momentum last?
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