Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, has experienced a substantial decline of 39% this year in relation to Bitcoin (BTC), the leading cryptocurrency. This shift has resulted in the ETH to BTC ratio plummeting to its lowest levels in nearly five years.
Currently, 1 ETH is equivalent to 0.02191 BTC. This is the lowest ratio recorded since May 2020 when Ether was trading around $200 while Bitcoin was just under $10,000. At present, the price of ETH stands at approximately $1,800, and BTC is around $82,000.
The underperformance of Ether is particularly striking given that this marks the first instance of Ether weakening against Bitcoin in the 12 months following a BTC reward halving. On April 20, 2024, the reward for Bitcoin miners was halved to 3.125 BTC, which historically tends to influence market dynamics significantly.
In previous halving cycles, Ethereum typically outperformed Bitcoin within the year following a halving event. However, this time, the ETH to BTC ratio has slumped by more than 50%. This relative performance has been noted as one of Ether’s worst quarterly outcomes against Bitcoin in several years, according to data from Glassnode. The last time we witnessed a similarly drastic underperformance was in the third quarter of 2019, where the ratio fell to 0.0164, reflecting a quarterly decline of 46%.
This decline mirrors the underperformance seen in 2019, further emphasizing Ether’s relative weakness, especially when compared to other layer-1 assets. The SOLETH ratio — which measures the value of Solana’s SOL relative to Ether — has increased by 24% year-to-date, reaching 0.07007. This reflects how SOL has significantly outperformed Ether in 2025, despite SOL itself being down 35% year-to-date.
