The broader cryptocurrency market has entered a sharp correction phase, with major digital assets declining across the board over the past 24 hours. Among them, Ethereum (ETH) has shown particularly weak performance—not only suffering one of the steepest price drops but also seeing its market capitalization share fall to a new yearly low. This downturn has sparked growing concern about ETH’s long-term competitiveness in the evolving blockchain landscape.
Major Non-Stablecoins Sink Across the Board
Over the last day, nearly all top non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies have posted significant losses, reflecting a broad-based risk-off sentiment in the market. Bitcoin, while not spared, has demonstrated relative strength compared to its peers—especially Ethereum.
- Bitcoin (BTC): Down 8.94% in 24 hours, currently trading at $75,458.93
- Ethereum (ETH): Plunged 18.24%, now at $1,465.36
- XRP: Fell 19.21% to $1.68
- BNB: Dropped 9.79% to $531.62
- Solana (SOL): Lost 17.97%, now at $97.59
- TRON (TRX): Down 6.56% at $0.2223
- Dogecoin (DOGE): Slid 19.59% to $0.1323
- Cardano (ADA): Tumbled 18.37% to $0.5207
- UNUS SED LEO: Relatively stable with a 3.29% drop
- Toncoin (TON): Down 12.09% at $2.85
Notably, Ethereum's 30-day price decline exceeds 31%, far outpacing most other large-cap assets. This sustained underperformance suggests waning investor confidence and increased capital rotation toward safer or more promising alternatives.
ETH/BTC Ratio Breaks Key Long-Term Support
One of the most telling technical indicators for Ethereum’s relative strength is the ETH/BTC price ratio, which measures how many bitcoins one ether is worth—a proxy for market preference between the two giants.
Historical data reveals that the ETH/BTC ratio has been in a gradual decline since its peak during the 2017 bull run. Recently, it has broken below a long-standing upward trendline, marking a critical technical breakdown.
🔹 This breach signals a bearish shift in market structure, undermining the once-popular "Flippening" narrative—the idea that Ethereum could eventually surpass Bitcoin in market capitalization.
While BTC continues to consolidate above key support levels, ETH’s failure to hold ground against its older counterpart highlights growing doubts about its ability to maintain leadership in decentralized applications and smart contracts.
Ethereum’s Market Dominance Hits Rock Bottom
According to CoinMarketCap data as of April 7, 2025:
- Bitcoin dominance has surged to 63.0%, reaching its highest level this year.
- In contrast, Ethereum’s dominance has dropped to just 7.5%, down from 9.1% just one month ago.
- This marks the lowest ETH market share since the beginning of 2025, underscoring a clear trend of capital outflow.
This divergence reflects a broader market recalibration—investors are increasingly favoring Bitcoin as a digital store of value amid macroeconomic uncertainty, regulatory scrutiny, and technological stagnation concerns surrounding Ethereum.
On-Chain Activity Signals Declining Demand
Beyond price and market share metrics, real-world usage on the Ethereum network paints an equally concerning picture.
Data from Etherscan’s Gas Tracker shows that while major protocols like Uniswap, Aave, and USDT transactions still dominate gas consumption, overall network utilization has declined significantly.
🔹 Lower gas usage indicates reduced transaction volume and weaker demand for decentralized applications (dApps) built on Ethereum.
Despite upgrades like The Merge and ongoing rollouts of Layer-2 scaling solutions, Ethereum has struggled to deliver consistent improvements in user experience, cost efficiency, and developer momentum. Competitors such as Solana and emerging modular blockchains are gaining traction by offering faster speeds and lower fees.
👉 See how next-gen blockchain platforms are redefining scalability and user adoption in real time.
Why Is Ethereum Losing Ground?
Several interrelated factors contribute to Ethereum’s current weakness:
1. Delayed Scalability Promises
Though Ethereum has long touted its transition to proof-of-stake and sharding as solutions to high fees and congestion, these upgrades have been slow to fully materialize. Users have migrated to cheaper, faster Layer-1 alternatives.
2. Rise of Competitive Ecosystems
Blockchains like Solana, Avalanche, and Cosmos have captured developer attention with better performance and incentive programs. Even Bitcoin is expanding via Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens, challenging Ethereum’s monopoly on innovation.
3. Stagnant User Growth
Active address growth on Ethereum has plateaued, while newer chains report double-digit monthly increases in unique users and transaction counts.
4. Macroeconomic Pressure
With rising interest rates and tighter liquidity conditions, speculative assets like altcoins face disproportionate selling pressure. Ethereum, as the largest altcoin, bears the brunt of this rotation out of riskier assets.
5. Lack of Catalysts
Unlike previous cycles driven by NFT booms or DeFi summers, there is currently no strong narrative or application driving demand for ETH.
FAQs: Understanding Ethereum’s Struggles
Q: What does low Ethereum dominance mean for investors?
A: A declining ETH dominance suggests that capital is flowing away from Ethereum-based projects toward other ecosystems or back into Bitcoin. This may indicate reduced confidence in Ethereum’s near-term growth potential.
Q: Can Ethereum recover its market position?
A: Yes—but only if upcoming upgrades (like proto-danksharding) significantly improve scalability and reduce costs. Strong developer activity and renewed retail interest will also be crucial.
Q: Is Bitcoin’s rising dominance sustainable?
A: In risk-off environments, Bitcoin often acts as a safe haven within crypto. Its growing dominance may persist until new narratives emerge or macro conditions improve.
Q: Does lower gas usage always signal weakness?
A: Not necessarily. It can also reflect improved efficiency through Layer-2 adoption. However, when combined with falling prices and declining dApp activity, it becomes a red flag.
Q: Should I sell my ETH amid this downturn?
A: Investment decisions should align with your risk tolerance and time horizon. While short-term sentiment is bearish, Ethereum remains foundational to DeFi and Web3—but diversification is wise.
Final Thoughts: A Crossroads for Ethereum
Ethereum stands at a pivotal juncture. Once hailed as the engine of Web3 innovation, it now faces mounting challenges—from technical delays to fierce competition and shrinking investor appetite.
While its first-mover advantage in smart contracts still grants it substantial influence, maintaining relevance requires more than legacy status. To reclaim momentum, Ethereum must accelerate innovation, enhance user experience, and foster compelling new use cases beyond DeFi and NFTs.
For now, Bitcoin continues to strengthen its position as the core asset of the digital economy. Whether Ethereum can stage a comeback—or gradually cede ground—will depend on both technological execution and market perception in the months ahead.
Keywords: Bitcoin dominance, Ethereum market cap, ETH/BTC ratio, crypto market analysis, blockchain trends, cryptocurrency price drop, Ethereum dominance decline, DeFi activity