On Tuesday, one of the most closely watched cryptocurrency trading pairs, the ETH/BTC trading ratio, slumped to a 10-month low. The sluggish performance of Ether against Bitcoin reinforces the latter’s relatively stronger institutional demand, as it continues to dominate in exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows.
ETH continues to cede ground to BTC
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency holding a market cap of more than $274.9B, continues to underperform against BTC, which commands a market cap of over $1.6T. The following ETH/BTC ratio weekly chart shows ETH posting 5 successive red candles against the top digital asset.
As of Tuesday, the ETH/BTC ratio has returned to levels it last saw in July 2025. While the ratio made a high of 0.0429 in August 2025, it has continually declined since then, trading at 0.028 and recording a decline of almost 35 percent.
To explain the importance of the ETH/BTC ratio, it is keenly observed by seasoned crypto market participants to gauge the existing appetite for risk in the market.
An increasing ETH/BTC ratio shows that there is an increased investor sentiment for high-risk altcoins. In sheer contrast, a decreasing ratio shows the movement of capital towards the relatively safer position of Bitcoin.
The ratio is also below its 200-week moving average, solidifying the view that ETH is in a bear market against BTC.
Why is BTC outperforming ETH?
There is no one, single explanation to rationalize BTC’s relative outperformance against ETH. While the former enjoys better institutional confidence – evident from the number of companies that hold BTC on their balance sheets – the positive momentum displayed by spot BTC ETFs also helps.
For example, spot BTC ETFs currently hold total net assets worth $109B, accounting for 6.6 percent of BTC’s total supply. Meanwhile, spot ETH ETFs possess total net assets worth $13.85B, representing 4.9 percent of the digital asset’s total supply.
What’s particularly striking is the weekly capital flow trends. While BTC ETFs last 7 weeks have seen net capital inflows, ETH ETFs have only seen 4 out of the last 7 weeks in the green. This shows that capital investment in ETH is not as consistent as BTC.
Recent ETF trends further cement the aforementioned statement. For instance, Morgan Stanley’s month-old spot BTC ETF holds $271M in net total assets, recording 0 days of outflows.