Ether traded below $3,100 on Sunday during a broader digital asset pullback. The token was recently near $3,066 at 9:36 pm UTC, down 3.4% in the last 24 hours. It briefly fell below the $3,100 level on Bitstamp around 4 pm UTC, marking its first break below that threshold since November 4, according to TradingView data.
Timothy Peterson, investment manager and digital asset researcher at Cane Island Alternative Advisors, said spot ether ETFs saw net outflows in four of the last five weeks, totaling about 7% of the cost-based capital invested in the products. He said bitcoin ETFs saw about 4% withdrawals over the same period, a smaller ratio that he believes indicates investors currently view ether as the riskier asset.
Cost-based capital represents the total amount of money originally committed to an ETF, separate from any gains or losses accrued after purchase. The measure reflects how much core capital long-term participants have contributed to a fund. When redemptions increase as part of this original investment base, analysts interpret this as an erosion of conviction among established holders rather than short-term positioning changes.
Since the metric focuses on initial investor commitments, it can provide a clearer reading of sentiment than headline inflows and outflows data, which can be affected by weekly volatility.
Traders will now be keeping an eye on whether ether ETF outflows slow or continue in the coming weeks, and how the token trades at key levels after Sunday’s move below $3,100. Future flow data and price action are likely to show whether the sentiment gap Peterson highlighted between ether and bitcoin persists.
