Ethereum (ETH) Is Experiencing a Surge in Investor Interest as Sentiment Pivots Away from Bitcoin (BTC)

Primary metrics like the taker buy-sell ratio and cost basis distribution (CBD) are now painting a more favorable picture for Ethereum relative to Bitcoin.

Recent market data suggests that traders are pivoting their interest away from Bitcoin ($BTC) and toward Ethereum ($ETH) in the near term. This shift in sentiment is evident in several key metrics, including the taker buy-sell ratio and the cost basis distribution (CBD).

A closer look at these metrics reveals a bullish outlook for Ethereum compared to Bitcoin, especially considering that ETH's price itself is undergoing a period of buildup. This trend is unfolding even as BTC continues to face waning demand in the market.

Traditionally, when the taker buy-sell ratio for Bitcoin starts to decline while Ethereum's rises, it indicates a trend reversal in which Ethereum starts to outperform Bitcoin. And that is precisely what we are witnessing now in the crypto market.

Bitcoin's buy-sell ratio has been dropping for some time, and this, of course, reflects diminishing buying momentum and a less rosy forecast in the short run for Bitcoin. At the same time, Ethereum's ratio is rising, which points to quite the opposite scenario for Ethereum—that is, it is enjoying a nice upsurge in buying interest and investor sentiment.

This shifting market dynamic indicates that an increasing number of investors are turning to Ethereum, probably because of the recent updates to the network and its rising popularity in areas like DeFi, non-fungible tokens, and layer-2 solutions. With Bitcoin's supremacy in the market starting to wane, Ethereum is definitely the next contender to capture the spotlight, especially as institutional appetite for blockchain alternative assets continues to swell.

This burgeoning Ethereum momentum is most evident in the cost basis distribution (CBD) for Ethereum. The CBD for Ethereum is trending down across multiple cost bases, signaling that investors have been stocking up on Ethereum as its price has dipped. This accumulation behavior is even more remarkable when you consider that most of the time, when we're seeing price decreases, those decreases are accompanied by an increase in trading volume. And volume is usually associated with price discovery or some discernible reason for buyers or sellers to be trading.

Ethereum's main support area is roughly around $2,632, which is where about 786,660 ETH is stashed. That's an important price level that has become a sort of threshold for Ethereum, where you're seeing buyers come in and trying to step it up. Conversely, the primary resistance level is at about $3,149, where roughly 1.22 million ETH is held. Accumulation and resistance zones at those price points are pretty much dictating the Ethereum price with say a 90 to 95 percent chance of hitting one of those thresholds when you're looking at short to medium price action.

$ETH Cost Basis Distribution (CBD) shows multiple cost bases have been moving lower, indicating investors have been accumulating on the way down. Accumulation zones show key support at $2,632 (786.66K #ETH) and resistance at $3,149 (1.22M #ETH): https://t.co/ARq7wTmIpy pic.twitter.com/SwJaWn0u8L

— glassnode (@glassnode) February 24, 2025

Accumulating at lower prices is a trend we've seen with other assets, like Maker ($MKR), where investors have displayed countermarket behavior by lowering their cost basis and holding through dips. For Ethereum, this is a similar play. If Ethereum investors were to behave in a countermarket fashion, that would mean they are accumulating at lower prices. If we see these same investors holding through dips and not panicking, then what we have here is a strong long-term play with a potentially not-so-volatility-prone asset.

Ethereum's Spot ETF Inflows Signal Positive Market Sentiment

Finally, a glance at the respective ETF inflows for Bitcoin and Ethereum over the past month shows that Ethereum is moving on a path toward significant global adoption. Performance in the ETF space is just one of many signaling mechanisms moving Ethereum this way. This ETF space performance, meanwhile, is in stark contrast to what’s happening with the Bitcoin ETF. Inflows to the Bitcoin ETF space have really dried up; they're down about 36% over the past month. So, while something seems to be going on with the Bitcoin ETF in terms of maybe senderial performance, the Ethereum ETF is not just outpacing it at this point. Both are obviously still kind of small in the grand scheme, but Ethereum ETF inflows are up; Bitcoin ETF inflows are down.

Last week (February 18 to February 21, US Eastern Time), the Bitcoin spot ETF had a net outflow of US$559 million, and the Ethereum spot ETF had a net inflow of US$1.61 million. https://t.co/Tvs2oCS03I

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) February 24, 20