Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP Record Weekly Rally Just the 'Beginning,' Analyst Says

According to Milk Road analyst John Gillen, last week's cryptocurrency rally may just be the beginning, and he believes Ethereum is the key asset for everything that follows.

Why This Rally Is More Than Just a Short Squeeze

Gillen wrote in his Sunday article that two events simultaneously hit crypto order books: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's bond buyback announcement weakened the dollar, and Donald Trump publicly named Hyperliquid at the White House, igniting the rally.

Last week, Bitcoin surged roughly 24%, and Ethereum jumped 32%, during which $4 billion in short positions were liquidated—the largest crypto short squeeze in history.

He argues that smart money had already positioned itself before the rally. Paul Tudor Jones increased his IBIT position by 18.9%. VanEck's Matthew Sigel has been actively building positions.

Meanwhile, Citigroup announced it will launch Bitcoin custody services by year-end. Additionally, Jim Cramer sold his Bitcoin in early August, which Gillen calls one of the clearest contrarian indicators.

Why Ethereum Is the Real Trade

Gillen argues that Ethereum is the settlement layer for everything that follows. ETF net inflows reached $1.92 billion this week, the largest since the October 2025 crash.

The tokenized real-world asset market has grown from $2.3 billion three years ago to $44.5 billion today, with Ethereum capturing 65% of that market across 35 competing chains.

Analyst confidence is building for Ethereum from multiple directions.

Galaxy Research Vice President Lucas Tcheyan told Gillen that today's ETH reminds him of Solana after the FTX event—sentiment has cleared out while fundamentals are quietly strengthening. He calls the ETH/BTC ratio one of the best trades in crypto right now.

Macro investor Jordi Visser agrees, telling Milk Road he expects Ethereum to outperform Bitcoin this year because traditional finance can value Ethereum like a stock, using cash flows, yields, and the network effects of stablecoins and tokenization.

Why the Tokenization Story Changes Everything

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev wrote on X that the world is in the early stages of a tokenization supercycle.

The tokenized real asset market has grown 1,819% in three years to $44.5 billion, with McKinsey, ARK Invest, and Ripple all projecting growth to trillions of dollars by 2030.

Meanwhile, Cloudflare reports that 57% of all web traffic is now bots, and the company is pivoting toward crypto by launching a stablecoin wallet, allowing AI agents to pay for APIs without human approval for every transaction.

Gillen's conclusion is straightforward. Bitcoin ETF net inflows reached $1.92 billion this week, the largest since the October 2025 crash.

"What we just saw with this wartime Ethereum blitz is the beginning, not the end," he wrote.