Ether resumes plunge, tracking bitcoin slide on risk-off mood

After a relatively quiet start to the week, the two largest cryptocurrencies began sliding again in early European hours on Tuesday as bearish sentiment weighed on digital assets.

Ether, which has recorded steeper losses than Bitcoin since a sharp October selloff, was down by more than 5% by 8 a.m. in London, falling as low as $1 997.

Bitcoin was down as much as 2.4% to $68 666, after hovering around $70,000 over the weekend and through Monday. The original cryptocurrency had nearly touched $60 000 on Friday before rebounding.

Bitcoin is coming off a particularly bruising week that saw it erase all of its gains since US President Donald Trump was reelected at the end of 2024. The crypto-friendly administration has been seen as a boon for the industry, but Bitcoin recently reached its longest monthly losing streak since 2018.

“ETH remains in a bearish structure overall after breaking down from the $2 800 to $3 000 range,” said Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets. The selloff comes on the back of macro risk-off sentiment and a broader crypto selloff, she added.

Despite bouncing back from last week’s lows, markets are showing little risk appetite for the two largest cryptocurrencies. Bearish signals still plague Bitcoin derivatives. Funding rates for Bitcoin perpetual futures have remained below zero, signaling that traders remain positioned for downward pressure.

Both crypto tokens have seen billions in outflows from their exchange-traded funds since the early October crash. Investors have pulled $3.2 billion from Ether ETFs, with $462 million withdrawn just this year. Bitcoin ETFs, meanwhile, have seen $7.9 billion in outflows in the same period, with $1.8 billion of that pulled this year.

© 2026 Bloomberg

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