Ether Gains Momentum as Capital Rotates Away from Bitcoin ETFs

Ether (ETH) has begun to outpace Bitcoin (BTC) in a notable market rotation, characterized by a shift in ETF flows and a spike in on-chain activity. Over the last 24 hours, ETH rose approximately 8%, compared to a 5% gain for Bitcoin, extending its monthly outperformance to nearly 9 percentage points. The rotation is underscored by a divergence in institutional appetite. While U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced $325.8 million in net outflows on April 13—driven largely by Fidelity’s FBTC and ARK’s ARKB—Ether ETFs recorded modest daily inflows of $7.7 million. Weekly inflows for ETH funds reached $187 million for the period ending April 10, marking the strongest performance of 2026 and bringing cumulative inflows to a record $11.68 billion. On-chain metrics show a sharp increase in Ethereum network usage, with daily transactions jumping 41% week-over-week to roughly 3.6 million. This surge represents a near-vertical climb from the 2.5 million transactions recorded on April 10. Despite the volume increase, the quality of activity remains a point of contention for analysts. Stablecoin transfer volumes on Ethereum fell 42.6% over the same period, and network fees dropped nearly 50%. This suggests that while transaction counts are rising, the actual economic value being moved is declining, contrasting with the fundamentally driven 'stablecoin summer' of 2025. Bitcoin continues to show resilience despite the ETF outflows, suggesting strong underlying spot support. The sustainability of the current ETH rotation will likely depend on whether fund inflows persist and if on-chain activity translates into higher economic throughput.