Why Is Ethereum Losing Ground? Bitcoin’s Strength Overshadows ETH

Ethereum Falls Behind: ETH/BTC Ratio Hits Four-Year Low
Bitcoin’s Strength Leaves Ether Struggling—ETH/BTC at 4-Year Low
Ethereum’s Middle Child Syndrome? ETH Underperforms Bitcoin Again
Ethereum vs. Bitcoin: ETH Struggles as BTC Dominates the Market

Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), has been losing ground against Bitcoin (BTC), delivering its weakest bull-cycle performance since the Ethereum blockchain launched in 2015.

A comparison of ETH/BTC ratios from previous market cycles shows a steady decline in Ethereum’s performance relative to Bitcoin. The current cycle, which began in November 2022, has seen Ether struggle to keep pace, marking a continued trend of diminishing returns against BTC.

On Wednesday, the ETH/BTC ratio dropped below 0.0300, reaching 0.02993, its lowest level in four years. The last time the ratio was this low was on January 19, 2017, just before Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. So far in 2025, the ratio has fallen 15% and is down 44% year-over-year.

Bitcoin’s Strength Overshadows Ethereum
Bitcoin is currently trading around $105,000, rebounding from a recent dip to $98,000, which was triggered by the launch of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model. In contrast, Ether is trading at $3,202, meaning it would need to reach $3,360 just to recover from the DeepSeek-driven drop.

Analysts suggest that Ethereum’s underperformance isn’t necessarily due to its own weaknesses, but rather Bitcoin’s growing dominance.

“My general take is that the ether-to-bitcoin ratio underperformance is more due to Bitcoin’s strength rather than Ether’s weakness,” said Andre Dragosch, head of research at Bitwise’s European desk.

He further explained that Ethereum struggles with a “middle child syndrome”—it’s not as scalable as smart contract competitors like Solana (SOL), nor does it compete with Bitcoin as a prime store-of-value asset.

What’s Next for Ethereum?
With Bitcoin maintaining its dominance, Ethereum’s position in the crypto market remains uncertain. While ETH continues to be a major player in decentralized finance (DeFi) and smart contracts, its relative underperformance to Bitcoin could push investors to reconsider their long-term strategies.

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