July witnessed a historic market rotation where Ethereum (ETH) surged 51%, driving Bitcoin dominance (BTC.D) down to 60.6% – its lowest since January – while altcoin dominance jumped to 39.2%, marking the strongest capital shift from Bitcoin to altcoins since early 2021. This rally was fueled by a record 19-day streak of net inflows into spot ETH ETFs and a 127% monthly surge in corporate ETH holdings, reaching 2.7 million ETH. Firms like Bitmine (625,000 ETH) and Sharplink (438,200 ETH) now hold more Ethereum than the Ethereum Foundation itself.
The rotation extended broadly, with Ripple (XRP) hitting new yearly highs, Dogecoin (DOGE) rallying 30%, and SUI surging 34.6% as its DeFi ecosystem reached $2.2B TVL. Regulatory tailwinds like the GENIUS Act for stablecoins amplified risk appetite. However, warning signs emerged as altcoin deposits to Binance spiked above 45,000 in a 7-day period – the highest since late 2024 – while the TOTAL3 index (altcoins excluding BTC/ETH) shed $20B in two weeks, falling from $1.07T to $980B.
Historically, similar exchange inflow spikes preceded market drawdowns. ETH has since declined 3%, and with BTC.D stalling below 63% amid overbought conditions, analysts suggest the market may enter a cooldown phase before any renewed breakout.