Crypto has been on a roll despite all the setbacks it had suffered through the last 6 months and more. Bitcoin, the most-watched crypto of them all, as well as the largest digital asset, has defied all nay-sayers and continued its surge, interspersed with a few retreats, but the general trend has been North. While concern was being expressed at most quarters about this, now there is a segment of opinion makers who believe there is a metric that is indicating the waning of confidence and perhaps even demand in in the larger crypto space.

Bitcoin-Ether ratio

The point that is being highlighted is the ratio that compares the price of Bitcoin with that of second-ranked Ether. The analysis of the Bitcoin-Ether ratio indicates at a possible waning of risk appetite in crypto, Bloomberg reports.

Significantly, the ratio hit the 20-mark this week. In fact, it reached the highest level since April 2021. What that has indicated is that there is demand for Bitcoin, but not as much for Ether.

Crypto asset trading company QCP Capital said that this may be “a very early signal” of FOMO — or fear of missing out — morphing into “fear” if Ether is viewed as a proxy for sentiment toward smaller tokens.

A surging Bitcoin price had hit a record high of $73,798 in mid-March on the back of inflows into dedicated US exchange-traded funds. With ETF demand dropping off, Bitcoin price has shed about 9%. While that was concerning, a gauge of smaller digital assets has dropped some 20%.

What next for crypto?

For further indications about what may come to pass, crypto traders are eyeing the four-yearly event known as the Bitcoin halving. In effect this event cuts new supply of the token, but even here doubts are being expressed about whether the halving will live up to its reputation of being a bullish development, Bloomberg indicated.

Bitcoin price today

On Friday, Bitcoin price dropped 1.5% to $66,940 in London, and Ether itself shed a similar amount to $3,278. Other cryptocurrencies were also in retreat.