Ethereum Lags Behind Bitcoin as JPMorgan Sees No Improvement in Network Activity
JPMorgan's analysts have published a report stating that Ethereum (ETH) and altcoins may continue to lag behind Bitcoin (BTC) without significant improvements in network activity and real-world use cases.
The divergence between ETH and BTC is most visible in exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, with spot BTC ETFs recovering roughly two-thirds of outflows since the October 2025 deleveraging event, while spot ETH ETFs have recovered only about one-third over the same period.
This gap reflects weaker institutional demand for Ethereum relative to BTC, according to JPMorgan. Momentum traders, including commodity trading advisors (CTAs) and crypto quant funds, remain slightly underweight both BTC and ETH.
The bank's analysts noted that past ETH upgrades failed to lift on-chain activity, with previous upgrades lowering layer-2 fees and reducing network congestion but also weakening the token burn mechanism, which increased net ETH supply and removed a source of price support.