Search interest in “Ethereum” has surged to its highest level since 2021, according to Google Trends data compiled by multiple analytics firms. Total search traffic is up roughly 500% since early July, signalling a sharp pickup in retail attention toward the second-largest cryptocurrency. The renewed focus comes amid a broad rally in alternative tokens. Glassnode figures show seven-day gains of 25.5% for both Ether and Dogecoin, 16.2% for XRP and 13.6% for Solana. Over the same period Bitcoin’s share of total crypto market value slipped to 59%, down from 65% two months ago, underscoring a rotation into higher-beta assets. CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index rose to 41% this week, the highest reading of 2025 though still short of the 75% threshold that denotes a full-fledged “alt-season”. Market-cap-weighted returns across the largest non-Bitcoin tokens have breached one-standard-deviation bands three times since April, a pattern analysts say points to sustained risk appetite. Volatility remains elevated: the micro-cap token Fartcoin fell 17% on 12 August before rebounding 27% the next day, highlighting the speculative character of the current advance.