As BTC continues to hit new all-time highs, the price ratio of Ethercoin (ETH) to BTC (BTC) has fallen to its lowest point since March 2021.

Based on TradingView data, in the past 24 hours, the ETH/BTC ratio on Binance exchange has dropped by 1.54%, currently around 0.032 (3.2%). Since the beginning of 2024, the ratio has accumulated a big dump of over 40%.

BTC stands out, while Ether is still sleeping

The rapid decline in the ETH/BTC ratio is related to the "return of the king" of BTC. With the victory of Donald Trump, a Republican candidate who supports cryptocurrency, BTC has not only been soaring all the way before the election, but also skyrocketing to new heights after the election.

Earlier today (21st), the BTC price broke through $97,800 for the first time. It is widely expected that BTC may break through the $100,000 mark before the end of the year.

BTCMarkets analyst Rachael Lucas said that the approval of the BTCSpot ETF in the United States is one of the main driving forces behind the rise of BTC this year. She pointed out:

The launch of BTCSpot ETF has attracted a large number of institutions and retail money, further solidifying BTC's position as the "digital gold".

However, compared to the glory of BTC, Ethercoin's performance appears dim. In the past week, the price of BTC has risen by more than 7%, but Ethercoin has fallen by 2.2%.

Ethereum caught in the midst of competition: questioned value positioning

The Block's research analyst Steven Zheng believes that the current dilemma of Ether stems from its awkward competitive positioning:

Ethercoin wants to compete with Bitcoin for the role of store of value, and at the same time, it needs to confront competitors like Solana in the field of Smart Contracts. This makes investors confused about its value positioning in the short term.

This year, Solana has quickly risen to become the preferred platform for the "meme coin craze". According to data from The Block, over 94% of the Tokens newly listed on Decentralization exchange this Monday were based on Solana issuance. In addition, Solana has surpassed Ethereum in key indicators such as protocol fees and volume.

Rachael Lucas added that since the completion of the 'merge' upgrade of Ethereum in 2022, its development momentum has clearly slowed down, mainly due to regulatory concerns in the United States that Ethercoin may be classified as a security.

Is there a chance for Ether to "turn over"?

However, Steven Zheng believes that the fundamentals of Ethercoin remain strong and it is still the most active Smart Contract platform, attracting many developers to continue building applications. It may still regain momentum in the future due to technical upgrades or application trends.

Rachael Lucas indicated that the weakness of Ethercoin reflects more the centralization trend of BTC in the market:

If the BTC rally slows down or Ethereum attracts funds back due to technical upgrades or new use cases, the ETH/BTC ratio may still experience a Rebound.

Presto Research director Peter Chung is optimistic about this. He believes that the current weakness of Ethercoin does not necessarily mean that it will continue in the future.

With the Trump administration's more friendly cryptocurrency policy landing, it is expected that more Web3 projects will choose to launch on different on-chain.

He added, "The blockchain industry is still in a very early stage of development, and it is too early to determine who the winner is. Considering the years of achievements and strong intellectual resources of the Ethereum community, it remains an indispensable key player in the future."

This article was first published in Blocktempo when BTC continued to hit new highs and the 'ETH/BTC Exchange Rate' fell to a 3-year low.