Ethereum climbed above the $4,000 mark for the first time since December 2024 on Friday, touching about $4,045 during New York morning trading and posting an intraday gain of roughly 4%, according to exchange and price-tracker data. The advance extends a rally of about 50% over the past month and leaves the second-largest cryptocurrency 18% shy of its November 2021 record high of $4,878. The upswing came amid a broader altcoin bid. Ripple’s XRP jumped as much as 8% after the company agreed to acquire payments platform Rail in a $200 million deal, while Chainlink’s LINK added roughly 11% following the launch of a token-reserve programme. Bitcoin, by contrast, hovered near $116,600 with only marginal gains. Market participants pointed to several tailwinds for ether. U.S. spot exchange-traded funds tracking the token have absorbed more than $9.3 billion in net inflows since their debut last year, while balances held on centralised exchanges have fallen to about 18.8 million ETH from 28 million earlier in the year, indicating tightening circulating supply. Options data from Amberdata show dealers are short gamma between $4,000 and $4,400 on Deribit, a positioning that could force additional hedging purchases and accelerate a move toward $4,400. Even after the latest breakout, ether remains vulnerable to volatility as investors weigh macroeconomic policy, regulatory developments and the pace of on-chain activity. Analysts said the token’s ability to hold the $4,000 level in coming sessions will be key to determining whether the rally extends or consolidates.