Ethereum Struggles as Bitcoin Dominance Grows: What’s Happening Now?

• The ETH/BTC ratio hits a 40-month low, signaling Bitcoin’s growing dominance among investors.
• Ethereum faces challenges with declining ETF interest while Bitcoin continues to attract institutional inflows.

According to IntoTheBlock data, Ethereum (ETH) is currently experiencing a difficult period, trading at its lowest level against Bitcoin (BTC) in over 40 months. The ETH/BTC ratio just fell below 0.04, indicating that investor opinion has shifted toward Bitcoin’s greater stability over Ethereum’s more volatile and risky character.

ETH is trading at its lowest level against BTC in over 40 months

While ETF flows for $BTC have been largely positive, $ETH has experienced mostly outflows. This trend suggests institutional investors are favoring Bitcoin’s relative stability over ETH’s higher risk, high-reward… pic.twitter.com/Eie6CBZ3c4

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) September 20, 2024

Bitcoin Gains Favor as Ethereum Struggles to Retain Investor Interest 

Institutional investors, who have typically prioritized assets with lower volatility, appear to be shifting their attention and funds to Bitcoin.

This preference is obvious in the spot Bitcoin ETFs, which saw an amazing $187 million in net inflows on September 18, marking four consecutive days of positive trends and bringing the total net inflows to $17.5 billion since their inception in January 2024.

In comparison, Ethereum is failing to attract the same degree of investment interest. Spot ETH ETFs have seen net outflows of $15 million for two days in a row, indicating a significant shift in investment behavior. This trend raises concerns regarding Ethereum’s future trajectory, especially in comparison to Bitcoin.

Some analysts believe that until there is a substantial shift in investor mood or clearer governmental standards favoring risky assets such as Ethereum, the ETH/BTC ratio will continue to fall, maybe reaching the 0.02-0.03 level.

Such a scenario would put Ethereum at a substantial disadvantage compared to Bitcoin, expanding the gap between the two main cryptocurrencies.

On the other hand, as we previously noted, the impending Pectra update will add to Ethereum’s issues. The Ethereum development team has decided to divide this big update into two phases to improve stability and reduce the possibility of issues.

The first phase of Pectra, which will include EIP-7702, is planned to launch in early 2025, with the second phase following shortly thereafter.

While this upgrade intends to improve Ethereum’s general operation, the timing suggests that Ethereum may not experience immediate advantages, potentially affecting investor confidence in the short future.

Meanwhile, in the broader cryptocurrency environment, emphasis is shifting to Ripple’s XRP. According to our prior reports, Grayscale Investments has formed an XRP Trust, fueling speculation about the impending launch of an XRP ETF.

This decision has sparked tremendous excitement in the Ripple community, with CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressing hope. He has repeatedly emphasized that his business would welcome an XRP ETF from any issuer, implying that Ripple is eager to capitalise on the growing institutional interest in cryptocurrency.

As of this writing, Ethereum is trading at roughly $2,543.13, up 4.97% over the last seven days; however, its price action looks to be sideways over the last 24 hours.

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