Ethereum Trading Activity Surpasses Bitcoin: Has the 2025 Altcoin Bull Market Begun?

Perpetual contract trading volume: Why can ETH surpass BTC?

Ethereum perpetual contracts (Perp) surpassed Bitcoin in trading volume for the first time in July 2025, marking a significant milestone in the entire cryptocurrency market. According to data from Glassnode and CoinStats:

• ETH perpetual contract trading volume reached 90.8 billion USD
• The BTC perpetual contract trading volume is 82.9 billion USD.

This is the first occurrence of Ethereum-dominated trading volume inversion since 2022, indicating a shift in market preference.

Reasons include higher ETH volatility, increased speculative activity, and the approval of spot ETFs, which has also boosted long-term bullish sentiment.

ETF Inflows and the DeFi Ecosystem: The Dual Engine Advantage of Ether

1. Continuous inflow of spot ETFs

• In July, ETH ETF net inflows exceeded 1.1 billion USD.
• The cumulative inflow this year has approached 8 billion dollars, partly led by traditional institutional funds.

2. DeFi activity has significantly rebounded.

• Lido, EigenLayer and other staking protocols reach new highs in TVL
• Gas usage and transaction volume of L2 networks such as Base and Arbitrum have risen simultaneously.
• The trading volume of decentralized exchange (DEX) has rebounded.

ETFs provide a “passive funding pool” guarantee, while DeFi offers network activity; together they build the value foundation for the ETH bull run.

The signs of capital recovery in the altcoin market are明显.

As the barometer of the altcoin market, Ethereum’s trading volume has surpassed Bitcoin, leading other mainstream altcoins to strengthen as well:

• Tokens such as SOL, SUI, and ARB all saw an increase of over 30% in July.
• Base’s upper section new coin trading volume hits a record high
• The inflow of stablecoins in the altcoin sector has significantly increased.

On-chain data shows that a large amount of USDT and USDC is flowing from centralized exchanges into the altcoin trading pools, indicating a new round of market rotation.

Risk warning: Quantitative data resonates with psychological indicators.

Short-term risk factors include:

• The usage ratio of leveraged funds has increased, and the risk of forced liquidation has risen.
• The slowdown in ETF inflows or some institutions cashing in profits may bring about temporary selling pressure.
• The market sentiment indicator is overheated, and investors are experiencing high FOMO.

At the same time, on-chain data shows that while the number of active addresses is high, the average transaction amount is trending downward, which may suggest an increase in short-term speculation.

Investors should closely monitor on-chain activity and counterparty behavior to determine whether real funds are still present.

Checklist for New Investors

Feasible strategies:

• Pay attention to the divergence changes in trading volume and price trends of ETH and BTC.
• Pay more attention to the net subscription volume of ETH ETFs and the capital inflow data of spot exchanges.
• During pullbacks, focus on quality altcoins, especially projects with a high correlation to the ETH network (such as Layer2).

Operations to avoid:

• High leverage chasing up ETH or SOL and other high volatility assets
• Ignore on-chain data and judge market direction solely based on price.
• Regard the short-term lead of ETH as the beginning of a “complete replacement of BTC,” ignoring macro and policy variables.

Investors are advised to keep their positions flexible and not to put all their eggs in one basket.

Summary

Ethereum perpetual contract trading volume surpassed Bitcoin for the first time in 2025, reflecting not only trading data but also marking a change in the market’s capital structure. This event injects confidence into the altcoin market and provides validation for Ethereum’s “ETF + DeFi” dual driving force. From a trend perspective, ETH may become one of the key driving forces in this bull run. However, investors should still view this rationally and not overlook the intertwining of volatility and risk.