Ethereum [ETH] has had a tough year compared to Bitcoin [BTC].
While Bitcoin continues to attract most of the market’s attention, Ethereum has struggled. The market still looks BTC-led, with investors preferring it over altcoins for now.
BTC has the upper hand in 2026
Ethereum has spent most of the year struggling against Bitcoin. The ETH/BTC pair is down close to 20% YTD, which simply means ETH has not kept pace with BTC’s strength.
This is important. ETH/BTC is often used as a quick way to judge whether the market is moving towards altcoins or staying focused on Bitcoin.
Right now, the indication is fairly clear. Capital is still favouring Bitcoin, and Ethereum has not shown enough momentum to challenge that trend.
Investors are pulling back too!
Bitcoin Spot ETFs saw weekly net outflows of about $1.26 billion, while Ethereum Spot ETFs also recorded outflows of around $216 million.
This tells us two things.
First, risk appetite has slowed down in general, even for Bitcoin. Second, the weakness is not leading investors towards Ethereum or other altcoins.
Bitcoin still has a much larger ETF asset base. So, even during outflow weeks, it remains the main institutional crypto trade.
Ethereum, on the other hand, has been seeing weaker price action and weaker flows together. That makes it harder to argue on the altcoin’s behalf.
BTC.D keeps altseason on hold
