Ethereum News Today: Bitcoin's Outflows Spark Altcoin Surge: ETFs and Innovation Reshape Power Struggle

The cryptocurrency market is witnessing a dramatic shift in institutional and retail sentiment, with Ethereum (ETH) and BlockDAG (BDAG) emerging as key players amid Bitcoin's (BTC) struggles. While BTC faces record outflows, ETH and XRP are attracting renewed interest, and BlockDAG's hybrid blockchain model has captured attention with a $430 million presale and ambitious growth projections.

Bitcoin's dominance has waned as institutions offload positions, with CoinShares reporting $513 million in net outflows from crypto ETPs in the week ending October 20, 2025, according to a Mitrade report. BTC alone saw $946 million in outflows, driven by U.S. investors reacting to the Binance liquidity incident and heightened trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Meanwhile, Ethereum, Solana (SOL), and XRP absorbed much of the displaced capital. ETH recorded $205 million in inflows, while a 2x leveraged Ethereum ETP saw $457 million in net inflows—the largest weekly figure for any digital asset.

Ethereum's rebound is further supported by ETF activity. U.S.-listed spot ETH ETFs added $134 million in inflows on October 28, bringing cumulative net inflows to $14.49 billion and net assets to $28.35 billion, per an FXStreet article. The price of ETH, currently trading at $3,864, has stabilized above the critical $3,750 support level, with analysts anticipating a potential push toward $4,500 if institutional demand persists.

Ripple's XRP has been a rollercoaster, dropping 1.23% to $2.42 but drawing speculative attention from retail traders. Futures open interest for XRP surged to $4.51 billion, a 30% increase from late October lows, signaling a return of risk appetite. Investor Jake Claver has stoked excitement with a bold prediction, in a Coinpedia article, that XRP could hit $100 by year-end 2025 and $1,500 by early 2026. His rationale hinges on the potential approval of U.S. spot XRP ETFs, which could inject $550 billion in liquidity and leverage BlockDAG's hybrid model to address the blockchain trilemma.

BlockDAG's testnet has demonstrated 1,400 transactions per second (TPS), with ambitions to scale to 15,000 TPS at launch, according to a Bitget report. By merging Bitcoin's Proof-of-Work (PoW) security with a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) structure, the project claims to solve scalability issues while maintaining decentralization. Its presale has raised over $433 million, attracting 312,000 unique holders and 4,500 dApp developers, as reported in an NFT Evening article. Analysts highlight BlockDAG's 1000x growth potential, citing its hybrid architecture and active miner ecosystem, which includes over 20,000 X10–X100 miners.

However, BlockDAG faces competition from projects like EcoYield (EYE), which emphasizes real-world utility through AI infrastructure and renewable energy. EcoYield's pilot project in Leeds, featuring 8 NVIDIA H100 GPUs and a 150 kW solar array, offers verifiable cash flows and a projected 20–30% APY, contrasting BlockDAG's speculative throughput-driven narrative, according to a FinanceFeeds analysis.

The broader market is polarizing. While Bitcoin bulls defend key support levels above $114,000, Ethereum's ETF-driven inflows and XRP's speculative fervor underscore a shift in capital toward altcoins. BlockDAG's presale success and institutional interest in projects like Chainlink (LINK) and Render (RNDR) highlight growing demand for scalable, utility-driven blockchain solutions.

Yet, challenges remain. Regulatory uncertainties, particularly around U.S. spot ETF approvals for XRP, and macroeconomic headwinds could dampen momentum. For now, the market's focus remains on execution—whether BlockDAG can deliver on its TPS promises and whether Ethereum's upgrades can sustain its institutional appeal.