ETH has shed 43% of its value against BTC since September 7, dropping from a price of 0.08566 BTC to 0.0482 BTC

Ethereum’s ether (ETH) has plunged to its lowest price compared with bitcoin (BTC) since April 2021 as crypto investors obsess over the anticipated approval of bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S.

ETH has shed 43% of its value against BTC since September 7, dropping from a price of 0.08566 BTC to 0.0482 BTC. In U.S. dollar terms, ether has increased by 41% in the same period, but that is dwarfed by bitcoin’s 81% gain.

In another sign of enthusiasm about bitcoin exchange traded funds and how they might transform the crypto market, bitcoin dominance, which measures bitcoin’s share of the entire crypto currency industry’s market capitalisation, has increased from 39% to 54% in the last 14 months.

Bitcoin’s rise against altcoins such as ether can be attributed to the emergence of two narratives: hopes that a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund will be approved in the U.S. and the upcoming “halving,” or reduction in the reward given to miners who create new BTC.

While ether is being earmarked for future exchange traded products, bitcoin is expected to experience “tens of billions of dollars worth” of fresh inflows if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approves a spot exchange traded fund this week.

Bitcoin will also undergo a block reward halving in April, an event that has earlier coincided with a series of bull markets as newly mined supply is reduced.

Ethereum, meanwhile, has dropped from the spotlight after its hyped transition to a proof-of-stake blockchain in 2022. Total value locked across all Ethereum protocols is less than it was in April 2023, despite the price being 10% higher.