SharpLink Gaming is slowly turning into the “MicroStrategy” of Ethereum, as seen from its expansion of ETH holdings. Just days after the Ethereum Foundation “dumped” ETH by selling the gaming company 10,000 ETH, SharpLink has now bought upwards of 16,000 ETH over Galaxy OTC.
This buy highlights the rapid institutional push for the world’s biggest altcoin, setting the tone for altcoin season. Will people now find Ethereum to be the best crypto to buy now, or are there other options for investors to look into?
Off-Exchange Transaction Leads to the ETH Price Crossing the $3K Barrier Again
The Ethereum price movement was stuck below $3K for a very long time before, a few days ago, Bitcoin’s surge past its previous ATH pushed the altcoin to new horizons. And once again, following a surge of more than 2%, Ethereum has moved up to reach $3.02K.
This soon happened after the already-mentioned SharpLink’s ETH treasury expansion, which is surprising since off-exchange transactions are done for the precise purpose of not having an impact on the market.
With this acquisition, the gaming company led by one of Ethereum’s co-founders, Joseph Lubin, has hinted at the future potential of the altcoin. As for why this move took place, there are many reasons.
The company could be working on expanding its treasury while also utilizing ETH’s upcoming technological innovations. Web3 technologies facilitated by this altcoin have already been worthwhile for gaming enthusiasts, so perhaps what SharpLink has been cooking under the hood would make gaming cryptos hot again.
Ethereum’s Current Price Action Could Lead to New Highs to Emerge
A closer look at the price chart shows that despite the short-term bullishness, long-term volatility has been hanging around Ethereum’s neck for a very long time. That being said, experts suggest that it may not be the case for much longer.
One of them is Rekt Capital, who has said that the ETH price is currently filling the Monthly CME gap between $2.9K and $3.35K, which could lead to a major potential price reversal.
Another cryptocurrency expert, Michaël van de Poppe, says that the trends have turned upward for Ethereum. “There is a lot of upside yet to be made,” he has said.
The trend has become upwards on $ETH, which means that there's a lot of upside yet to be made.
I'm assuming that any dip that we're getting into sub $2,900 regions is a great entry spot before we're going to see $3,500. pic.twitter.com/cuet4i1ipG
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) July 13, 2025
He has put the next target zone around $3.5K, which is an optimistic view of the chart, and if the market momentum continues, could become real.
However, the monthly price chart shows that Ethereum has been rejected at around $4K twice previously, painting a bearish image due to this “double-top” pattern. To invalidate this pattern, the Ethereum price has to make a clean break above $4,071, and this breakout should be supported by higher trading volume to not just be a fakeout.
Furthermore, the ETH price has to stay at that level for a while, which means no quick rejection, as it would reinforce the bearish signal.
For now, however, the volatility has forced most to look at the daily charts and take in little victories. And if Ethereum is able to cross the $3.5K barrier, it could jump over the $4K level as well.
Reasons Why Ethereum Could Hit $3.5K in 2025
Multiple regulatory, technological, and institutional reasons have contributed to Ethereum’s growth till now, and could continue to influence it in the future.
Exploding Institutional Accumulation
During the first seven months of 2025, institutions have bought over 1.8 million Ethereum, with major players being SharpLink Gaming, Bit Digital, and BitMine Immersion. BlackRock’s and Fidelity’s ETH spot ETFs have also seen upwards of $908 million in total inflows.
Add to that, on-chain whale addresses have collectively withdrawn 1.49 million ETH from exchanges, which is indicative of long-term bullish behavior.
There are currently 6,392 wallets holding between 1K and 100K Ethereum. Over the past month alone, these key whale and shark wallets have rapidly added more coins as retail traders have taken profit.
During these past 30 days, a net of +1.49M more $ETH has been accumulated by… pic.twitter.com/1hPBTuAOrL
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) June 13, 2025
As exchange supply decreases, demand for ETH increases, which could fuel the ETH price to reach $3.5K.
Cancun-Deneb and Pectra Upgrade
Early 2024 saw the introduction of the “Dencun” upgrade, which is the Cancun-Deneb upgrade that paved the way for Proto-Danksharding to drastically reduce L2 rollup gas fees by up to 90%. It could make Ethereum more development-friendly, making it ripe for more DeFi and dApp adoption.
Another major upgrade, Pectra, made its entry in May 2025, focusing on increasing Ethereum’s performance and user experience through 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals.
Furthermore, ecosystems like Arbitrum and Optimism have gone through a 30 to 40% increase in active users month over month since the upgrade, leading to the TVL exceeding $18 billion across Ethereum L2s by July 2025.
The combination of lower rollup costs and an improved UX could pull in more investors, pushing Ethereum to new highs.
Regulatory Clarity Around Ethereum
There have also been multiple progressive regulations around ETH that have helped push a bullish narrative around the altcoin. For instance, in June 2025, the SEC officially confirmed ETH as a commodity, giving people clarity around the nature of the asset.
That, in turn, opened the floodgates for US-based ETFs, retirement accounts, as well as pension funds to invest in Ethereum directly.
And as regulatory ease continued, ETH-based tokens such as Lido have also seen a 15% increase in staking participation, which has reduced market liquidity.
Overall, progressive regulations have allowed Wall Street–scale capital to flow into Ethereum’s ecosystem, giving a degree of certainty around whether the altcoin will continue to move up.
Is Ethereum the Best Crypto to Buy Now?
All the positive news coming from the institutional, regulatory, and technological front in terms of Ethereum paints a pretty picture of this altcoin. Most have a bullish view about the Ethereum price action, and many are even willing to budge from their preconceived notions and give this altcoin a shot. With that in mind, it could be said that Ethereum may be the best crypto to buy now, especially due to the sheer level of technological upgrades emerging.
However, the market is still volatile, and the double top that the monthly charts have printed does give people some pause. Will Ethereum get rejected at $4K again? It is not clear. Therefore, to be on the safer side, investors are advised to keep their minds open and portfolios diversified.
Here are some of the best picks smart investors are choosing to hedge their bets.
Bitcoin Hyper
Bitcoin Hyper presents a clear vision of a cryptocurrency project that leverages Bitcoin’s ethos and popularity and Ethereum’s security and versatility. While it is being portrayed as a meme coin with a Pepe wearing a superhero costume as the mascot, its main goal is to bring more use cases to the Bitcoin network.
The idea is to ascend Bitcoin from just being an asset as a “store of value” to something akin to Ethereum — capable of handling smart contracts and hosting decentralized applications.
While other solutions, such as the Lightning Network, have been used to provide fast and low-cost transactions on Bitcoin, Bitcoin Hyper’s aim is to do something more substantial. Its L2 scaling solution is not limited to off-chain transactions, but also aims to make the network capable of handling evolving technological nuances of blockchain.
The vision involves establishing a bridge between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Hyper, creating a companion altcoin that could give users indirect exposure to the apex crypto. Furthermore, Bitcoin Hyper has integrated Solana Virtual Machine, which could help with the creation of decentralized and DeFi applications as well.
With upwards of $2.6 million raised, the Bitcoin Hyper presale is reportedly ending soon. In light of the current ecosystem, popular analysts at 99Bitcoins have called Bitcoin Hyper the next 10x crypto.
Bitcoin
SharpLink Gaming’s recent ETH buy to boost its treasury is a move taken straight from the MicroStrategy playbook. And for MicroStrategy, Bitcoin is akin to the be-all and end-all of finance, which is why the institutional push has driven Bitcoin to new highs, even past the $120K mark.
Currently trading around $121K, Bitcoin’s latest ascension comes thanks to massive institutional inflows and progressive regulatory measures. The BTC price has painted consistent green candles ever since the formation of the “three white soldiers” pattern.
Given the market interest, it wouldn’t be wrong to believe that the Bitcoin price could hit $250K by the end of the year or the beginning of 2026.
However, the RSI of the crypto is currently 77, which is well past the overbought zone. It hints that institutions may be overvaluing BTC. It is an important aspect to consider, as retail investors have had no significant contribution to the BTC price action. The lack of retail investment could lead to some correction down the line.
However, if Bitcoin starts to consolidate around the current or a slightly higher level, the RSI would return to stable zones, setting the ground for the apex crypto to reach new highs. But if today’s beginning of Crypto Week doesn’t yield a positive result, the bullish trend could reverse.
Despite these cautions, long-term players should consider holding BTC, as it is likely that the institutional push will keep growing, at least until the end of President Trump’s term.
Best Wallet Token
With companies like 21Shares expanding their product lines, new investors are coming in. Furthermore, retail engagement is going through a major rebound, according to Glassnode, particularly in the APAC region.
And as new investors come into Ethereum or other assets, they will require a strong system to interact with the cryptocurrency market easily. Best Wallet emerges as a strong solution thanks to its simple UI and robust facilities.
Supporting over 60 chains, Best Wallet, powered by its native crypto, Best Wallet Token, is a multi-utility cryptocurrency wallet that combines all the core features of a centralized exchange and brings them into a decentralized domain.
Users can swap crypto easily if they want to, and they can also buy and sell crypto using fiat, thanks to Onramp facilities. Furthermore, thanks to the BEST token, the cost of transactions is reduced for buying Ethereum or any of the thousands of assets available.
Ethereum staking is also available through this platform, via integrations with Lido and Rocketpool. More staking services are on the way, thanks to Best Wallet’s DAO that is pushing for more innovation and better perks.
Best Wallet Token also gives users the opportunity to find and invest in crypto ICOs before they are released to the public. This approach of being able to invest in tokens while they are at the “zero” stage is one of the reasons why the New York Post has called Best Wallet its leading pick.
The BEST token itself is available on presale and has raised over $13 million to date, showcasing a steady flow of new investors coming in.
Snorter
Ethereum’s price action in the short term is described as volatile, which is probably the reason why, despite the growth, many people are apprehensive about it. However, Snorter is a project that could help investors take advantage of volatile market conditions.
Designed as a trading bot to find and invest in Solana-based meme coins, Snorter is set to add a multi-chain feature that will allow investors to find Ethereum-based meme coins as well.
The bot is active on Telegram, giving users ease of access through the popular messaging app and delivering other facilities. These include protection against investments that could be honeypots, rug pull protection, and MEV protection.
It enables fast swaps and also leverages Telegram to provide users with CopyTrading facilities.
Snorter is also a meme coin, portrayed using an aardvark as the mascot and visualizing the act of finding the best cryptocurrency investments through an aardvark’s snout.
These attributes have given Snorter a simple appeal. Long-term investors may want to cash in on the use case of a project that could help them find and invest in emerging meme coins. And short-term gain seekers may leverage Snorter’s imagery to target parabolic gains within limited timeframes.
Analysts like Cryptonews have called this project something to be “insanely bullish” about. The host, Jordan, has cited Snorter’s accessibility, which involves supporting both Solana and Ethereum tokens, as the reason behind the token’s strong reception.
Token6900
Not everything available on the cryptocurrency market has to solely focus on utility. Some investments have a strong degen base, and these assets create traction through their memes, leading to the establishment of strong communities.
Such is the case with Token6900, a meme coin inspired by SPX6900 that takes a more OG-style meme approach.
Everything about this project is injected with a deep comedic tone. Its website gives off a Windows 95 vibe, complete with advertisements from back in the day, showcasing dating ads and other nostalgic elements. At the center lies a sarcastic take on current market conditions, along with a narrative that emphasizes the idea of not focusing on use cases, but instead riding the meme wave to get into crypto.
With a hard cap set at $5 million, Token6900 is a limited-time presale that has raised close to $500K to date. Its narrative of being a “conscious parasite” that blends today’s market conditions with a “brain rot” style of memes, including “AI-slop” posts on social media — has been generating a lot of buzz within the cryptocurrency community.
