BitMine adds 17K ETH as Ethereum eyes a Q4 breakout against Bitcoin

Ethereum has been a clear outperformer of the Q3 cycle.

According to CoinGlass data, ETH is on track to finish the Q3 with more than 70% ROI compared with Bitcoin’s 43%. That puts ETH’s quarterly returns more than 1.5x greater than those of Bitcoin.

But the larger question is, can this outperformance continue in Q4, which has traditionally favored Bitcoin? 

Since 2021, ETH has not once outperformed Bitcoin in Q4. So technically, this ETH/BTC chart does have even more significance. The ETH/BTC ratio is currently chopping around the 0.03 resistance, which is a level it has failed to reclaim since losing it ahead of the October crash.

A clean breakout above 0.03 could therefore be the key confirmation that ETH’s Q3 momentum is carrying into Q4.

Interestingly enough, institutional positioning does not seem to be following this trend.

According to SoSoValue, Bitcoin ETFs are wrapping up Q3 with more than $6 billion in net inflows, more than 2x Ethereum’s. In fact, BTC’s $3.1 billion in net inflows in August alone is bigger than the whole Q3 Ethereum inflow of about $3 billion.

And with corporate accumulation picking up around BTC, institutional demand still seems to be skewed towards Bitcoin. 

That makes Bitmine’s latest buying of Ethereum [ETH] rather intriguing. It came just as MSTR and Strive were continuing their BTC accumulation, and rotational buying in altcoins was getting going.