Ether, Dogecoin Lead Capital Rotation Away From Bitcoin as Altcoin Fever Resurges

Bitcoin BTC$89,544.72 hovered just under $120,000 in Asia trading hours Monday, up 1% on the day and 2.6% on the week, even as traders increasingly shifted capital into altcoins like ether ETH$3,049.74, XRP$2.0540, Solana’s SOL SOL$132.98, and DOGE$0.1402.

The market rotation comes as institutional flows broaden beyond Bitcoin, with Ethereum-led narratives gaining momentum and real-world asset tokenization drawing fresh attention from traditional finance players.

ETH surged to $3,793, posting a 3.7% daily gain and up 25% over the week. It’s now at its highest level since early 2022, and analysts say demand from new ETH-based treasury products and ongoing ETF flows are fueling the rally.

XRP followed suit, rising 4.1% to $3.55, while SOL added 6.6% to reach $189. Cardano’s ADA) and BNB Coin BNB$894.06 both gained over 3% on the day.

DOGE$0.1402 stood out with a 9.6% jump in the past 24 hours, trading at 27 cents and up more than 33% on the week — its strongest performance in over a year.

"Over the past week, altcoins have shown signs of taking the spotlight, with Bitcoin stalling just below recent all-time highs and capital rotating into broader market plays," said Enmanuel Cardozo, market analyst at Brickken, in a note shared with CoinDesk.

"Bitcoin dominance has dropped from a June peak of 66% to around 61.75%, signaling early signs of an altcoin cycle heading into Q3," Cardozo said.

The ETH/BTC ratio, which has been in decline for some time, has seen a strong bounce back to its best levels since Q1 — a sign that traders are again betting on Ethereum outperforming.

"Some will credit the stablecoin and RWA narrative," said Augustine Fan, head of insights at SignalPlus. "But we think it’s just good old-fashioned risk-on spillover. Most TradFi players are already fully positioned on BTC."

Beyond technical positioning, macro and legislative tailwinds continue to shape the altcoin trade. The GENIUS Act, which aims to regulate stablecoins and increase clarity around digital asset taxation, failed a procedural vote earlier this week but is still progressing in U.S. Congress.

"Ethereum and other altcoins are surging due to institutional demand and friendly legislative policies," said Eugene Cheung, chief commercial officer at OSL. "Traders are hoping to see Ethereum break to new all-time highs, the last of the majors yet to do so in this cycle."

Meanwhile, the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization sector — now over $24 billion in total tokenized value — is becoming a serious institutional theme. Projects tokenizing private credit, Treasuries, and real estate are attracting fresh attention from giants like BlackRock and JPMorgan.

"Tokenized assets are taking a meaningful share of DeFi TVL," Cardozo added.

"It may be too early to call an altseason, but the rotation is real. If BTC consolidates, altcoins tied to real-world finance could lead the next leg,” he ended.

Read more: Bitcoin's Dominance Slides By Most in 3 Years as BTC's Correlation With Altcoins Weakens