Investor interest in ETH was lower than in BTC and SOL. According to crypto hedge funds, ETH could regain interest in 2025.
Ethereum (ETH) has struggled through this cycle amid record FUD, and investor attention has shifted elsewhere.
According to Zaheer Ebtikar of crypto hedge fund Split Capital, ETH is lagging behind others due to “middle child syndrome.”
“$ETH is suffering greatly from middle child syndrome. The asset is out of vogue among institutional investors, has fallen out of favor in crypto private capital circles, and we don’t see any retail bidders bidding at this scale anywhere. I can’t see it.”
Investors abandon ETH
Among the crypto majors, Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) have seen double-digit gains, while ETH has delivered just 8% to investors on a year-to-date basis.
Ebtikar linked the decline in performance to investors focusing on BTC and other ETH competitors such as SOL and Sui (SUI).
The executive pointed out that there are three sources of capital in the cryptocurrency space: institutional investors (through ETFs/futures), private capital (liquidity funds, venture capital), and finally retail. But for now, only the first two are important.
He added that institutional investors are focusing on BTC (through ETFs). The ETH ETF has had $546 million in net negative flows since its debut in July, highlighting the low interest rate.
Meanwhile, Ebtikar said that private capital considers ETH to be overvalued and has directed capital to other ETH competitors that are perceived to be undervalued, such as SOL, Celestia (TIA), and SUI. Ta.
“$ETH is too large for native capital to support, but at the same time it can support other index assets such as $SOL and other large caps such as $TIA, $TAO and $SUI.”
Coinbase analysts also echoed the above opinion in their September report.
Source: SOLETH Ratio, TradingView
The SOLETH ratio, which tracks the value of SOL relative to ETH, has exploded since last year, confirming Ebtikar’s theory that investors may have rotated from ETH to SOL.
That being said, Ebitaker also confirmed that ETH is the only altcoin that is approved for ETFs in the US.
As such, he predicted that the asset could receive renewed interest from 2025, especially from institutional investors.
He cited the potential for increased demand from ETF buyers, changes within the Ethereum Foundation, and Trump’s victory.
At the time of writing, ETH was worth $2.4k, but has consolidated between $2.3k and $2.5k since early October.
Source: ETH/USDT, TradingView
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