The Ethereum price rallied on Saturday due to a return of Wall Street money at the end of the week. After a slowdown since the start of September, institutions invested $405 million into Ethereum ETFs on Friday, marking the biggest day since 26 August.
As a result, Ethereum gained over 4% on Saturday, and despite a slight cooldown on Sunday, remains up 8.4% this week. As such, its price has easily outperformed Bitcoin, which is up 4.4% in the same period.
Experienced investors know that Ethereum’s strength is good news for the wider altcoin sector, with it usually signaling increased risk appetite. As investor risk tolerance grows, money starts to flow into smaller altcoins, often resulting in much larger gains as it takes alot less liquidity requried to move their prices.
And so you’re probably wondering what is the best crypto to buy to capitalize on this. Let’s look at what’s driving Ethereum’s bullish trend right now, and where that momentum could go next.
Ethereum ETF Flows Start to Snowball
Growing excitement about Ether outperforming BTC was abruptly halted at the start of this month as Ethereum ETFs experienced a six-day consecutive outflow streak from August 29 to September 8. Things began to stabilize on 9 September with $44 million in inflows, and then institutions really started to dig in.
On 10 September, ETFs saw $171.5 million in inflows, followed by $113.1 million on 11 September, and a local record of $405.5 million on 12 September.
Meanwhile, corporate buying pressure on ETH is helping fuel its growth, with Tom Lee’s BitMine purchasing another $200 million worth on Friday, increasing its total holdings to over $9 billion.
This combined institutional and corporate demand has established a strong bid under ETH, which could well lead to more substantial price gains in the weeks ahead. Ether is currently trading at $4,600, and now sits just 6.5% below its ATH recorded on 24 August.
If this move continues, it could pave the capital rotations into the wider altcoin market where investors can generate much bigger gains. Let’s examine four projects that could deliver strong returns.
Bitcoin Hyper
Bitcoin Hyper is a Bitcoin Layer 2 blockchain built using the Solana Virtual Machine, ZK rollups, and a trustless canonical bridge. Using the Solana Virtual Machine execution layer enables Hyper to operate alongside Bitcoin, while offering significantly faster transaction speeds and lower costs.
This also means that Bitcoin Hyper can support smart contracts, opening new use cases like DeFi, payments, and meme coins. In turn, this could create new opportunities for Bitcoin holders to utilize and earn yield on their coins, which could drive alot of users to the L2 network.
Currently, Bitcoin Hyper is in a presale, having raised $15 million so far. This demonstrates that HYPER has strong market support and potential for gains once it lists on exchanges.
Additionally, since it leverages Bitcoin’s security and liquidity while offering high speeds and smart contract functionality, Bitcoin Hyper could serve as a viable alternative to Ethereum, which gives it immense upside potential. Visit Bitcoin Hyper.
Pepe
Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin this week with an 8.4% gain, and with ETF flows increasing on Friday, we might see more of the same next week. One of the best ways to capitalize on this could be Pepe.
Although Shiba Inu has a larger market cap, Pepe is the most-traded meme coin on the Ethereum network. It often provides beta exposure on Ethereum’s growth, and this week is no exception.
Its price has surged 20% in the past seven days, outperforming Ethereum, Shiba Inu, and many other Ethereum-based tokens. And so if Ethereum continues its rise and potentially breaks the $5,000 mark soon, Pepe could explode.
It’s currently priced at $0.00001175, which is a 58% discount from its all-time high (ATH) in December 2025, leaving plenty of upside potential – especially given that Ether is so close to breaking out again.
Maxi Doge
Dogecoin has an ETF launching next week, so excitement is building in the community. However, one of the smartest ways to position might be Maxi Doge, an Ethereum-based alternative that features more modern branding and increased utility.
Regarding branding, Maxi Doge is portrayed as Dogecoin’s younger cousin – a crypto bro bodybuilder addicted to Redbull and 1000x leverage trading. It’s a narrative that fits the all-or-nothing mindset many meme coin traders adopt today, rather than the friendly ‘we’re all gonna make it’ attitude from last cycle.
The MAXI token also offers utilities such as staking, community giveaways, and integrations with futures trading platforms. This mix provides both viral and long-term potential, which could position MAXI for significant gains.
It’s also in a presale, allowing investors to buy early and capture the most room for gains. So far, the presale has raised $2 million, showing strong investor interest. Visit Maxi Doge.
Ondo
While institutions have been buying cryptocurrencies as speculative investments, they’ve also shown a strong interest in the blockchain sector as a way to tokenize real-world assets (RWAs). This means being able to trade tokenized ownership rights of stocks, bonds, properties etc on a blockchain – a borderless, 24/7, and programmable process.
Ondo leads the RWA sector, offering a range of products, including a yield-bearing stablecoin, tokenized stocks, and on-chain access to U.S. Treasuries. The project has also partnered with $10 trillion asset manager BlackRock to expand access to tokenized U.S. Treasuries, underlining its legitimacy and promince in the space.
The project has also shown significant on-chain momentum recently, having just reached its highest-ever total value locked (TVL) of $1.52 billion.
It’s also worth noting that Ondo is built on the Ethereum network, meaning it’ll benefit from capital rotations as ETH liquidity rises. So coupled with its frontrunning position in the RWA sector, it’s easy to see how this could be the best crypto to buy.
This article is not intended as financial advice. Educational purposes only.
