Key Takeaways
Does Ethereum Show Relative Strength Despite BTC’s Early Rally in Q4?
Ethereum posts a net gain of 7.02% versus BTC’s 4.34% for October, with stablecoin inflows into the chain signaling institutional interest.
Is institutional rotation to ETH gaining momentum?
BlackRock’s recent moves, combined with the ETH/BTC ratio nearing 0.04, indicate a strategic rotation rather than a short-term trade.
So far in the fourth quarter, Ethereum [ETH] has lagged behind Bitcoin [BTC]with a decrease of 6.94%. But if we look closely, BTC is only up 1.15% despite its nearly 11% first-week rally that pushed it to an all-time high of $125,000.
From a technical perspective, BTC’s net gain for October was 4.34%, at the time of writing, while ETH remained at a net gain of 7.02% after its 15% gain in the first week.
In short, ETH is still strong against BTC.
This resilience is particularly visible on the weekly chart. BTC has fallen 7.15% with two back-to-back lower-low candles, testing the late June support at $103,000. ETH, on the other hand, is holding on to its August gains.
Source: TradingView (ETH/USDT)
Against this background, the ETH/BTC ratio is about to hit its first weekly green, bouncing back nearly 9% from the recent crash to 0.03, reinforcing the case that rotation to ETH could change.e is gaining momentum.
On-chain, Ethereum’s stablecoin offering signals the same strength. The 7-day stablecoin offering on Ethereum rose 2.18%, adding $3.47 billion and pushing the total to a new all-time high of $163 billion.
Simply put, more dry powder flows into the ecosystem. Combine this with Ethereum’s resilience versus BTC, and it begs the question: Does the rotation into ETH become more strategic than a short-term trade?
Institutions turn to Ethereum amid market shifts
BlackRock puts the rotation thesis into action.
Arkham data shows that the company has moved 300 BTC in its last fifteen trades, worth about 4,500 BTC. At the same time, it collected 12,400 ETH from Coinbase Prime.
The effects are visible on the chart: Ethereum rose 1.12% intraday and held the support at $3,830 despite persistent weakness in ETH ETFs, while the ETH/BTC ratio rose 1.56% at the time of writing, moving closer to the key resistance at 0.37.
Source: TradingView (ETH/BTC)
In this setup, the increase in stablecoin liquidity is not random.
Instead, it points to “targeted” capital flowing into Ethereum, which suggests that rotate settings for the longer term rather than chasing short-term trades, with October’s price action so far reinforcing this strategy.
Against this backdrop, the ETH/BTC ratio is targeting the 0.04 zone, signaling a possible breakout in Ethereum’s favor against Bitcoin, suggesting that ETH’s monthly slowdown may be nothing more than a short-lived dip.