Ether and the wider altcoin sector are struggling to keep pace with Bitcoin, according to a new report from JPMorgan.
This multi-year trend of underperformance will persist unless the market sees a substantial revival in network activity, utility, and decentralized finance (DeFi) adoption.
The October deleveraging
Analysts led by JPMorgan managing director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou have stressed that Ethereum had consistently lagged behind Bitcoin in both price action and institutional capital flows since the sector-wide deleveraging event in October 2025.
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Of course, the broader cryptocurrency market faced severe pressure earlier this year due to inflation fears and waning risk appetite. However, Bitcoin's recovery has been notably stronger.
One has to look at the institutional market in order to see this divergence. Spot Bitcoin ETFs successfully recovered roughly two-thirds of their prior capital outflows. At the same time, spot Ether ETFs have managed to recoup only about one-third of their previous losses.
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Momentum traders, including crypto quant funds and commodity trading advisors (CTAs), are slightly underweight on both major assets.
Ethereum is anticipating major scalability-boosting network upgrades in 2026 (such as Glamsterdam and Hegota).
However, given that previous upgrades failed to trigger a material increase in onchain activity, they are unlikely to be major bullish catalysts.
Other insights
In a separate report, JPMorgan noted that recurring security exploits are actively preventing traditional institutions from deploying capital into decentralized finance.
Localized breaches turn into widespread liquidity shocks, and risk-averse institutions choose to remain on the sidelines.
JPMorgan’s research unit has also taken note of the massive corporate capital flowing directly into Bitcoin. The bank recently forecast that Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) could purchase an astonishing $30 billion worth of Bitcoin in 2026 alone if it maintains its current pace.
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