Over the last week, Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market have come under selling pressure. This happens as the global macro conditions continue to remain jittery with an expected rate hike by the Fed next month.
Bitcoin which has shown a strong correlation with S&P 500 is now losing the game to the world’s second-largest crypto Ethereum (ETH). On-chain data provider Santiment notes that as the ETH price rallied ahead of the much-awaited Merge upgrade, it has shown a greater correlation to the blue-chip U.S. equity index. Santiment noted:
Both #Ethereum & the #SP500 bounced all the way back to their respective May price levels in mid-August. But #Bitcoin has still lagged behind.
Along with the recent surge in the ETH price, the total number of ETH staked with Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain has now reached a normal level. As reported by Glassnode:
The number of $ETH deposits into the Beacon chain contract is now at a stable but macro low of 220 deposits/day. This may signify a stable holding pattern is been reached, as investors await a successful Merge, scheduled for mid-September.
The entire crypto community has its eyes set on the long-awaited Merge upgrade coming next month. As CoinGape reported, two Ethereum clients Go Ethereum and Nethermind have found bugs in their Mainnet Merge updates. However, they seem to be within the control of Ethereum developers and are unlikely to create any further delay in the Merge upgrade.
Traders Turn Attention to Altcoins
As per on-chain data provider Santiment, traders have been losing their interest in Bitcoin and thus shifting their focus on altcoins. The data provider notes:
Bitcoin has slumped since briefly jumping back above $25k on Aug 14th. As traders have turned their attention to #Ethereum and #altcoins, $BTC transactions are mostly happening at a loss. This is the lowest ratio of profit taking we’ve seen on record.
