Bitcoin falls flat after bullish announcements, traders bet on Ethereum rally

• Bitcoin hovers around $107,000 with traders unimpressed by announcements of corporate BTC purchases. 
• Ethereum rallied to $2,788, its highest level in nearly three months, as institutional interest and capital rotation catalyze ETH rally. 
• ETH long/short ratio is above 1, implying derivatives traders are betting on Ether price gains. 

Bitcoin (BTC) failed to rally after repeated bullish announcements at the Bitcoin Conference 2025. BTC price is declining slightly on Thursday, trading above $107,100 at the time of writing. While Bitcoin traders were unimpressed by the recent market updates, Ethereum (ETH) price climbed to its highest level since February 2025 before retreating. 

Experts believe there is a structural rotation in the current market cycle and Ethereum could rally higher. Traders are watching the psychologically important $3,000 target for ETH. 

Bitcoin rally cools, traders shift attention to alts

Bitcoin Conference 2025 in Las Vegas brought together BTC believers, holders, maximalists and some of the biggest names supporting BTC, including US Vice President JD Vance and former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes. Bitcoin traders were visibly unimpressed with the bullish statements and assurances, as headlines have been recycled several times since January 2025 with little action to show for it. 

BTC trades at $107,100 at the time of writing. While BTC trades less than 5% away from its all-time high at $111,980, technical indicators on the daily timeframe flash mixed signals. 

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) flashes red histogram bars under the neutral line, implying an underlying bearish momentum in Bitcoin price trend. Relative Strength Index (RSI) reads 62 and is sloping upward, supporting a likelihood of gains in Bitcoin price. 

A key support level is $102,314, the upper boundary of a Fair Value Gap (FVG) on the BTC/USDT daily price chart. 

BTC/USDT daily price chart | Source: TradingView 

Despite bullish headlines, there’s no significant rally in Bitcoin, while Ethereum, Ethereum-based tokens like staking and Layer 2 tokens and AI tokens rallied in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. 

Ethereum sees structural rotation, traders take bullish bets on ETH

Ethereum rallied to $2,788 on Thursday, marking its highest level since February 2025, before retreating to the $2,640 level at the time of writing. The ETH/BTC pair climbed 6% from its local lows with the rally and Jag Kooner, Head of Derivatives at Bitfinex, says that the gain in the pair was not retail-driven. 

Kooner said:

“The SBET Ethereum Treasury announcement is a key catalyst. The ETH/BTC reversal signals a shift in dominance—early-stage moves that often precede broader altcoin outperformance. 

The fact that this strength is happening alongside, not after, BTC price acceleration makes it especially bullish: capital isn’t exiting Bitcoin, it’s compounding across L1s. This is the beginning of what might become Phase 3 of the crypto bull cycle, where BTC strength stabilizes, ETH accelerates, and capital spreads out across selective altcoins.”

Derivatives data from Coinglass shows the long/short ratio on derivatives exchanges like Binance and OKX exceeds 1, meaning more traders are taking long positions than short. Derivatives traders are betting on an increase in the Ethereum price.

Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget Research, told FXStreet: 

“Whales have accumulated 1.4 million ETH since April, reducing exchange supply and applying upward pressure. Ethereum could target $3,000–$3,400 in the near term after its break above $2,700. The momentum will depend on volume trends, macro conditions, and continued institutional support.​​”