Journalist
Posted:
As risky assets continue to follow 2025 cycle patterns, from weak earnings to macro volatility around rate cuts and big liquidations, it’s important to follow these trends to get a sense of where the market could go next.
Look specifically at Ethereum [ETH]one pattern stands out.
So far, ETH has had an uphill climb compared to Bitcoin [BTC]. ETH has delivered a 1.5x weaker performance, causing the ETH/BTC ratio to fall by around 13%, further exacerbating losses from the 2025 rally.
Source: CoinGlass
Interestingly, this closely matches the pattern of the first quarter of 2025.
Looking at the numbers, Bitcoin’s ROI came in at -11.8%, almost 4x stronger than Ethereum’s -45.4%, while Ethereum dominance [ETH.D] ended the quarter down 33%, about 3x weaker than BTC.D’s 12% decline.
However, the story changed in the second quarter. Ethereum rebounded strongly, with ETH’s dominance closing two times stronger than Bitcoin. By the end of the quarter, ETH’s ROI was approximately 1.5 times that of BTC, indicating a clear recovery.
This obviously begs the question: If Ethereum continues to see strong on-chain accumulation and resilient network fundamentals even in a risky market, could it set the stage for another outperformance against Bitcoin in the second quarter?
What’s Underpinning Ethereum’s Q2 Performance?
Despite the FUD, BitMine’s belief in Ethereum remains steadfast.
Recent data shows BitMine bought an extra 45,759 ETH, bringing the total holdings to 4.37 million ETH. This clearly indicates that BitMine is betting on the future of Ethereum, backed by strong network fundamentals.
For example, major financial institutions such as BlackRock and JP Morgan are building blockchain-based versions of traditional payment systems on Ethereum.
As a result, the market capitalization of RWAs on Ethereum has surpassed $15 billion, an increase of approximately 200% year-over-year.
Source: Token terminal
This shows that Ethereum’s recent weak performance is more market-driven than a loss of belief in the network itself.
That difference is meaningful because it suggests that the current pullback is a typical “weak-handed” shakeout rather than a fundamental collapse.
This means that a new outperformance in the second quarter does not seem far-fetched.
In fact, this difference contributes to laying a solid foundation, supported by institutional supportThis highlights why ETH could rebound strongly against BTC if the market returns to a risky environment.
Final summary
- BitMine added 45,759 ETH, bringing its total holdings to 4.37 million ETH, indicating strong confidence in Ethereum’s fundamentals.
- Major institutions like BlackRock and JP Morgan are building on Ethereum, with RWAs exceeding $15 billion, supporting a potential second-quarter recovery against BTC.