Ethereum (ETH) Gains Whale Interest. Is Bitcoin (BTC) Losing Its Edge?

Ethereum is drawing increased attention as large holders continue to accumulate the asset at a steady pace. In contrast, bitcoin’s price has stalled, with some indicators suggesting its momentum may be slowing.

🐳 In the past 2 weeks, the amount of Bitcoin wallets with at least 1K $BTC has fallen by 1.61%. Meanwhile, the amount of Ethereum wallets with at least 10K $ETH has risen by 8.00%. Crypto’s top 2 coins are seeing contrasting whale behavior.

🔗 Link: https://t.co/RoczBOVebL pic.twitter.com/OiujZMQNU5

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) July 29, 2025

Supporting the shift, data from blockchain firm Santiment shows that Ethereum wallets holding 10,000 ETH or more have increased by 90 in the last two weeks. This marks an 8% rise and the fastest wallet growth rate ETH has seen in months.

Is Bitcoin (BTC) Losing Its Edge?

In contrast to ether, bitcoin wallets holding 1,000 BTC or more declined by 1.61% during the same period. This suggests some large holders may be reducing exposure or at least pausing accumulation.

This divergence has sparked speculation that capital might be rotating from bitcoin to Ethereum, as deep-pocketed participants show growing interest in ETH.

To evaluate that claim, CryptoQuant points to bitcoin’s Realized Cap, a metric that values each coin based on the last price it moved. As of July 29, it has reached a new all-time high of $1.018 trillion.

The rise in Realized Cap indicates that new money is still flowing into bitcoin, even in the absence of strong price movement. According to CryptoQuant analysts, this signals continued accumulation rather than distribution.

Meanwhile, Ethereum has surged 60.55% in July, driven by fresh inflows targeting its ecosystem. Still, CryptoQuant maintains that this rally is not occurring at bitcoin’s expense.

Derivatives Surge and Corporate Shifts

Glassnode adds another perspective with data from the derivatives market. It reports that Ethereum’s share of perpetual futures open interest has jumped to nearly 40%.

Notably, that’s the highest level since April 2023 and ranks among the top 5% of historical readings. The sharp rise suggests speculative traders are increasingly focused on ETH over BTC.

This growing attention extends beyond market positions. In mid-July, BTC Digital, a Nasdaq-listed blockchain firm, announced a major strategic pivot. The company shifted its focus from Bitcoin to Ethereum.

Likewise, in June, crypto mining firm Bit Digital disclosed plans to halt its BTC mining operations. The company is now redirecting efforts toward Ethereum staking and treasury management.