As Ether\u2019s price has struggled in the first quarter of 2025, a US-based investment adviser firm, Two Prime, has dropped support for ETH and adopted a Bitcoin-only strategy.<\/p>\n
After lending $1.5 billion in loans both in Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) and Ether (ETH<\/a>) over the past 15 months, Two Prime decided to ditch ETH to focus solely on BTC asset management and lending, the firm announced<\/a> on May 1.<\/p>\n \u201cETH\u2019s statistical trading behavior, value proposition, and community culture have failed beyond a point that is worth engaging,\u201d Two Primes stated.<\/p>\n The firm\u2019s shift to a Bitcoin-only approach comes as ETH has lost 45% of its value year-to-date, with some optimists speculating that\u00a0ETH is potentially close to<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0bottom\u00a0and reversing its negative trend soon.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an algorithmic trading firm, we value data more than narratives,\u201d Two Primes said, adding that the \u201cdata suggests ETH has fundamentally changed.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to de-correlating from Bitcoin, Ether has become no longer predictable, Two Primes argued, adding:<\/p>\n \u201cIt trades now like a memecoin rather than a predictable asset. Even during the turbulence of Q1 2025, Bitcoin remained within its fundamental behavior, whereas ETH saw several multi-standard deviation moves.\u201d<\/p>\n Two Primes then went on to say that such conditions \u201ccreate a headache\u201d for both algorithmic trading and ETH-back lending as the asset no longer behaves predictably, \u201ceven by the high volatility expectations of digital asset markets.\u201d<\/p>\n Founded in 2019 by Alexander Blum and Marc Fleury, Two Prime is an investment advisory firm registered<\/a> with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm has been offering trading and lending services for both BTC and ETH for the past six years.<\/p>\n Two Prime\u2019s critical remarks about Ether were quick to trigger responses from the community, with many seeing the message as another bottom signal for the cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat a retarded essay statement,\u201d one market observer wrote on X, citing the high volatility of the S&P 500, which dropped<\/a> 4.7% YTD.<\/p>\n Source: <\/em>SEMB<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cNever even heard of them. Seems irrelevant,\u201d another commentator said<\/a>, expressing doubt on whether the community should rely on Two Prime\u2019s shifting approach to Ether.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this isn\u2019t a bottom signal for ETH idk [I don\u2019t know] what is,\u201d another poster speculated<\/a>, joining the many expecting ETH price to bounce following a downtrend cycle.<\/p>\n Two Primes also mentioned the weak performance of Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), highlighting that BTC ETF buying has outpaced ETH by almost 24 times.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe failure of ETH\u2019s ETF creates a reflexive loop whereby institutions like BlackRock dedicate fewer resources to their promotion and sale. BTC has found the mainstream while ETH has floundered,\u201d the firm stated.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Vitalik Buterin outlines vision as Ethereum ecosystem addresses hit new high<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Despite Ether ETFs seeing low performance, Ether is still the biggest altcoin for crypto ETFs in terms of assets under management (AUM), far outpacing others like Solana (SOL<\/a>) and XRP (XRP<\/a>).<\/p>\n According to the latest update from CoinShares<\/a>, Ether-based exchange-traded products had $9.2 billion in AUM by the end of last week, while Solana and XRP followed with $1.4 billion and $1 billion, respectively.<\/p>\n Crypto ETP flows by asset (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinShares<\/em><\/p>\n Following approval from the US SEC<\/a> in May 2024, spot Ether ETFs saw a slow start in 2024, with performance losing ground compared to the massive spot Bitcoin ETF debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n Amid low investor demand, some issuers like VanEck ceased trading futures Ether ETFs<\/a>, while WisdomTree withdrew its Ethereum Trust ETF proposal<\/a> in September 2024. In March 2025, ARK liquidated<\/a> its futures ETFs for both Ether and Bitcoin.<\/p>\n\u201cEther no longer trades predictably\u201d<\/h2>\n
Community fires back: ETH bottom signal<\/h2>\n
Who else ditched ETH in the past months?<\/h2>\n