Ethereum Struggles to Keep Pace with Bitcoin's Surge

The Ethereum price has recovered slightly over the past few days, climbing back above $2,500 after gaining nearly 5%. However, this rally has not yet produced the swing that the bulls are waiting for. Bitcoin's price, on the other hand, has moved above $82,000 as institutional demand returned to the crypto market.

The divergence between Ethereum and Bitcoin becomes clearer when observing the latest ETF flows, whale activity, and on-chain data. While traders are showing renewed buying interest, the underlying data does not confirm the broad demand required to sustain above $2,500. The decrease in Ethereum ETF inflows can be considered one of the major reasons behind the ETH price weakness.

BTC has attracted nearly a billion dollars in ETF inflows since the start of the month, supporting the price in reclaiming $82,000. In contrast, Ethereum's ETF activity has shown signs of strength but has been less consistent. The highest recorded figure in September is +$59.3K in inflows with few outflows, ending a 12-session inflow streak that bought more than a billion into the products.

The daily active addresses for Ethereum have not displayed any major variations, as they have been decreasing since August 9th. The levels have remained below 500K this month and have also dropped by more than 5% compared to the levels it traded at during the previous year. This suggests that the ETH price is recovering but network participation is not accelerating at the same pace.