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Ethereum’s perpetual futures trading volume share hit a historic high of 67% over the past week. In other words, two-thirds of all crypto perpetual futures trading involved Ethereum.

This indicates that crypto investors are unusually favoring high-risk investments, even amid a market downtrend caused mainly by concerns over rising US inflation.

BTC-ETH Open Interest is Very Close

Glassnode released its weekly report, “A Derivatives-Led Market,” on Wednesday. It explained that while Bitcoin’s price recently hit a new all-time high before correcting, the crypto derivatives market primarily drove the market’s direction.

Despite the correction, Glassnode pointed out that market participants still consider this a bull market, which is reflected in the rising open interest dominance of ETH, a key “bellweather asset“

As of Thursday morning UTC, the spot dominance gap between Bitcoin (59.42%) and Ethereum (13.62%) is about fourfold. However, the open interest dominance is much closer, with Bitcoin at 56.7% and Ethereum at 43.3%. This suggests that leveraged investors are showing significantly greater interest in ETH.

This trend is even more pronounced in trading volume. Ethereum’s perpetual futures trading volume share has reached an all-time high of 67%.

Glassnode explained that these figures highlight the high level of investor interest in the altcoin sector and indicate that investors are now willing to take on greater investment risk.

So, could the price of ETH rise further and serve as a stepping stone to an “altcoin season”? Ultimately, the key appears to lie in the attitudes and interest rate decisions of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials.

One of the main reasons for the recent crypto price correction is the uncertainty surrounding the Fed’s interest rate cuts due to renewed US inflation. If Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole meeting on Friday signals a move toward interest rate cuts, ETH is expected to rise much faster than BTC.

TRM Labs has teamed up with big crypto firms like Coinbase, Ripple, and Binance to launch the Beacon Network. This is the world’s first crypto crime response system. Its goal is to stop illegal money from moving through the blockchain.

Beacon Network: An Approach to Prevent Crypto Fraud 

The crypto industry is often hit by scams and fraud, making it a risky space for investors and users. To tackle this, leading crypto companies have come together to launch the Beacon Network, a system built to stop illegal activities.

The Beacon Network scans blockchain transactions in real time to spot unusual patterns and block suspicious activity.

It also lets trusted members flag shady wallet addresses, trace stolen funds across different blockchains, and share details with law enforcement.

TRM Labs calls it the first complete “kill chain” designed to target and shut down illicit crypto assets.

Esteban Castaño, CEO and co-founder of TRM Labs, stated, “This isn’t about adding another layer of compliance. It’s about unlocking the full potential of crypto: real-time transparency, automated detection, and rapid response. Beacon Network proves that with the right infrastructure, crypto can be the most secure financial system in the world.”

Crypto Giants to Launch Beacon Network 

Coinbase, Binance, PayPal, Robinhood, Stripe, Kraken, Ripple, Crypto.com, Zodia Custody, Blockchain.com, Anchorage Digital, Bitfinex, HTX, Poloniex, OKX, LFJ, 1inch, Rhino.fi, Coinspot, and ChangeNow are the founding members of Beacon Network.

“Beacon Network represents a new chapter, defined by real-time intelligence, proactive risk management, and cross-sector collaboration. At Ripple, we’re proud to be a founding member,” said Andrew Rosenberg, Head of Financial Crimes Compliance at Ripple.

The “Kill Chain” Disrupts Illicit Funds 

TRM data shows that since 2023, at least $47 billion in cryptocurrency has been sent to fraud-related addresses. Now with Beacon Network, the members seek to end this criminal cycle. 

The Beacon Network is already in use and has reportedly achieved successes in tracking illicit funds from cybersecurity incidents. It froze $1.5 million linked to a global scam and identified $800,000 in scam-related deposits at a major exchange. 

The network will prioritize taking down major crypto criminals, such as North Korean IT workers involved in crypto scams. It also aims to prevent terrorist financing and recover funds for victims.

Ethereum is rapidly emerging as the go-to asset for institutions, with a growing number of organizations adding it to their treasuries for its role in DeFi, staking, and Web3.

Could this be the start of Ethereum challenging Bitcoin’s dominance? 

69 Entities Hold Over 4M ETH

Data from strategicethreserve shows that 69 entities now control over 4 million ETH, valued at a massive $17.6 billion. That is approximately 3.4% of all Ethereum in existence.

BitMine Immersion Technologies tops the list with about 1.5 million ETH worth $6.6 billion. Sharplink Gaming follows next with around 740,800 ETH worth $3.2 billion. The Ether Machine holds roughly 345,400 ETH, while the Ethereum Foundation manages about 231,600 ETH.

In addition, the ETH ETFs reserve currently holds 6.36 million ETH worth about $27.4 billion, representing 5.26% of the total supply. 

ETH Outpaces BTC in Treasury Trading

Analyst Miles Deutscher highlighted a “crazy chart” and notes that ETH is overtaking BTC in Treasury Company trading volume. While ETH is gaining ground, he believes it still has plenty of room to catch up with Bitcoin.

The analyst also recently shared that ETH looks like the better buy than BTC right now, pointing out the following:

• Ethereum’s treasury bid still has over $20B in cash waiting to flow in
• Its rally is far less exhausted compared to Bitcoin’s and
• ETH’s relative strength on dips has been much more impressive compared to last months

He believes ETH will rebound stronger than BTC and even outperform many altcoins, offering a better risk-adjusted return.

Expert Views on ETH Treasury Momentum

Adding to the bullish outlook, Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin also told in an interview with CNBC that ETH could overtake BTC in market cap within “the next year or so,” with treasury companies playing a key role in that shift.

But not everyone is convinced by the ETH treasury boom.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin noted that although treasury companies can strengthen ETH as an asset, he also warned that heavy leverage could trigger cascading liquidations.

Bitcoin bull Samson Mow has argued that ETH’s recent momentum is largely driven by insiders rotating BTC into ETH, only to eventually dump it back into Bitcoin.

With strong momentum in place, ETH could be on a path to outperform Bitcoin in the near term.

Arthur Hayes is moving from crypto battles to stem cell clinics. The BitMEX co-founder, recently pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump, has taken a board seat and a major stake in a stem cell company – the same firm where he’s been a patient for more than a year.

The company, currently rebranding, has not been named. Hayes has been traveling to clinics in Mexico and Bangkok for infusions aimed at extending his healthspan.

Crypto Titans Look Beyond Tokens

Hayes isn’t the only one. Some of crypto’s most familiar names are backing biotech and life-extension projects.

• Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin donated millions, including $25 million in SHIB tokens, to aging research groups.
• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong co-founded NewLimit, a genetic startup that raised $130 million this year.
• Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan co-founded Counsyl, a genomics company focused on disease screening.

For these crypto leaders, extending human life has become just as exciting as building the next blockchain.

Hayes Still Deep in Crypto

Even with his new focus, Hayes hasn’t stepped back from the industry that made him a billionaire. He still invests actively and often shares his market views and experiences with the crypto community, especially on X.

His family office, Maelstrom, funds Bitcoin developers with grants worth up to $250,000 each and has invested in digital asset treasury companies – public firms stockpiling crypto on their balance sheets.

The Trump Factor

Trump’s March pardon cleared Hayes and fellow BitMEX executives of their Bank Secrecy Act convictions. It marked a clean slate for Hayes, who built one of the world’s biggest derivatives exchanges before regulators cracked down.

Since then, Trump himself has embraced crypto, which Hayes sees as validation.

Hayes also hinted that he’s preparing to release a detailed report on stablecoins, adding another layer to his ongoing influence in the crypto space.

Hayes built BitMEX, faced trial, and walked free with a presidential pardon. Now he’s investing in two things that could shape the future: Bitcoin and human longevity.

Bitcoin’s price struggles continued in the past 24 hours as the asset slipped to a three-week low of $112,500 before it staged a recovery to almost $115,000, where it faced another rejection.

Most larger-cap alts stand relatively calm, but BNB managed to surge to a new all-time high, while OKB has stolen the show again with another mindblowing pump.OKB, BNB New ATHs

It seems that the past few days have belonged to digital assets tied to some of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. BNB, for instance, traded at around $830 yesterday, but it skyrocketed to a new all-time high of just over $880 in hours. Although it has lost some traction since then, BNB is still 3% up on the day, trading close to $860.

The daily award for the biggest gains, though, goes to OKB once again. OKX’s native token has flown by 50% to chart a new record of its own at almost $197 (CoinGecko data). The asset has gained 300% in the past month.

Ethereumhas tapped $4,300 after a 1.25% daily increase, SOL has exceeded $185% after a 2% jump, andDOGEis above $0.22 following a 2.5% pump. LINK is close to $26, whileADAand TRX have posted more modest gains. In contrast, MNT has slumped by over 8% following its recent run.

The total crypto market cap has added around $30 billion since yesterday and is up to $3.950 trillion on CG.BTC Struggles Below $114K

While some altcoins have headed north to new peaks, bitcoin’s price actually continued its recent downfall. The asset reached a new ATH last week, but has lost over ten grand since then. The past 24 hours also saw some declines, as BTC slipped to a three-week low of $112,500 (on Bitstamp).

The bulls managed to react rather well to this price drop and didn’t allow a further breakdown, even though there are a few warning signs. Just the opposite, BTC jumped to almost $115,000, but it was quickly stopped there and pushed south to under $114,000, where it currently sits.

Its dominance over the alts has slumped by 0.5% in a day to 57.4% on CG, while its market cap is at $2.265 trillion.