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Ether slides against Bitcoin to a five-year low

There was a time when optimistic crypto investors speculated Ethereum could catch up to Bitcoin thanks to its technological edge, the so-called “Flippening”.

By Mike Hesp
• 2 min read
Ether slides against Bitcoin to a five-year low

There was a time when optimistic crypto investors speculated that Ethereum could catch Bitcoin thanks to its technological edge, the so-called “Flippening.” But in recent months Ether has taken heavier hits than its big rival.

A direct comparison shows it: for 1 ETH you can currently get only 0.0217 BTC. That puts Ethereum, the second-largest crypto, near a five-year low relative to Bitcoin. The last time the ETH/BTC ratio was this bad was in May 2020.

While Bitcoin sits around $83,100 and has a market capitalization of $1.65 trillion, Ether trades at $1,805 with a total value of only $217 billion, less than one-seventh of Bitcoin.

A major reason is waning interest from traditional financial institutions (TradFi). Since its July launch, Ethereum ETFs have seen net inflows of $2.37 billion. By comparison: Bitcoin ETFs have seen more than $36 billion.

Meanwhile, more Ethereum whales are dropping out. View post on XLookonchain has a large investor from 2017 recently sold all remaining 2,001 ETH, for a fiat gain of $8.66 million.

The move to the energy-efficient Proof-of-Stake mechanism, championed by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, took place on September 15, 2022. Since this so-called Merge, ETH has fallen about 75 percent in value relative to BTC.

Critics say that this staking reform has led to centralization of the Ethereum network and that early investors have been disproportionately advantaged.

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