This week has witnessed remarkable growth in the global cryptocurrency market, spearheaded by Bitcoin. Today, the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market stands at $2.44 trillion, an increase of 1.61% from the previous day. Most of the digital assets are in the green zone meaning that their prices are rising and the outlook of the market is generally positive.

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In this latest market frenzy, one storyline is attracting attention and some analysis: while Bitcoin is outperforming the rest and retesting $73,000, Ethereum is struggling to hit its target of $4,000. The diverging performances between the two top digital assets now serve as an interesting sub-plot to an exciting week ahead for the general cryptocurrency industry.

Ethereum And Bitcoin- A Contrasting Story Of Market Run

As the top two cryptocurrencies by market cap, it’s natural for analysts and observers to take a second look at Ethereum and Bitcoin. While both digital assets have notched some gains, with Bitcoin rising by 1.90% and ETH by 2.59%, they still paint contradicting storylines.

$ETH is moving according to plan but is underperforming BTC from the past few weeks.

With the momentum gained, it is looking ready to head past the $2800 resistance zone and start a parabolic move towards my target of $4000.

It’s time for ETH to outperform BTC. pic.twitter.com/4mK8DVMd2c

— Crypto General 🦄 (@DaCryptoGeneral) October 29, 2024

As the top crypto, Bitcoin has led the recent market rally, surpassing the psychological $70,000 level and hitting $72,459.92. Last Tuesday, BTC tested the $73k level again, and analysts expect it will record another all-time high soon.

In contrast, Ethereum’s run has been sluggish, falling short of expectations. While ETH joined other coins in a mini-rally this week, its current price of $2,687 is still far from the analysts’ target of $4,000.

ETH’s Recent Run- What Analysts Are Saying

The contrasting price runs and milestones for both top cryptos have attracted some attention. For most analysts, Bitcoin’s recent price performance validates its standing as the current top digital asset. Ethereum’s struggles to hit the elusive $4k have been criticized by some traders and analysts, with many stating that Solana is now “the next Ethereum.”

ETH is not dying.#ETH / #BTC is doing what it always does.

I think ETH/BTC bottoms this quarter and goes up in 2025.

Once ETH/BTC passes the 50D SMA, the bottom is in IMO.

Still a risk ETH/USD drops one more time in Nov/Dec but hedging makes sense pic.twitter.com/xAbg8Szi3N

— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) October 30, 2024

However, a few analysts still defend Ethereum and expect the blockchain to rebound soon. Benjamin Cowen, the founder and CEO of ITC, took to Twitter/X to say that the Ethereum blockchain “is not dying.” In the same post, he shared that he expects ETH/BTC to bottom this quarter and will make a run next year.

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ETFs Also Show A Similar Storyline

In addition to market prices, the spot ETFs market reflects Bitcoin’s overall strength and Ethereum’s recent struggles. According to recent data, Bitcoin ETFs attracted $870.1 million, compared to Ethereum’s spot ETFs’ $7.6 million.

While many are excited about Bitcoin’s next price move, some are paying attention to ETH. Ethereum is now on the analysts’ radar, and they are checking whether ETH can benefit from the same market factors pushing Bitcoin higher.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

A breather in the market from a wider pump earlier in the week came amid a second straight day of strong inflows for U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The ETFs recorded over $893 million in inflows on Wednesday after taking in $879 million on Tuesday, the first back-to-back inflows of more than $850 million. Cumulative net inflows since their introduction in January now total $24 billion, according to data tracked by Farside Investors.