The second-largest digital currency by market value has slumped around 18% since June, while Bitcoin was down around half that amount during the same period. Ether dropped as much as 5.4% to $1,639 on Monday, and the original cryptocurrency slipped as much as 2.3% to $27,290.
In recent weeks, concern over Ethereum’s growth and prospects have swirled, as activity and fees on the network plummeted and the coin’s supply began to grow again after months of deflation. Fear of centralization in the Ethereum network has been growing as well. Fresh turmoil in the Middle East and the possibility of more interest-rate increases has many crypto investors shifting to Bitcoin, which has long outperformed in bear markets.
“In fact, Ether has been massively underperforming the broad market since the Merge, with both the ETH/BTC price and volume ratio trending downwards over the past year,” according to a report from researcher Kaiko. “Ether’s underperformance is likely due to the ongoing impact of the bear market, which historically has seen traders turn to Bitcoin.”