Time to ‘pull the brakes’ on Ethereum and rotate back to Bitcoin: K33 report
"For the time being, the dominant force in the crypto space remains with BTC," noted Vetle Lunde, a senior analyst at K33.
David Becker 
Analysts at K33 Research have advised a "rotate back" into Bitcoin (BTC) due to the underwhelming performance of nine new Ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The initial trading volume of Ether futures ETFs accounted for only 0.2% of what the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) accumulated on its first day of trading in October 2021.
According to analysts Anders Helseth and Vetle Lunde, no one expected Ether ETFs to match the initial trading volume of Bitcoin ETFs launched during a bullish market. However, the Ether ETFs' underwhelming first-day numbers fell significantly short of expectations.
The lack of institutional interest in Ether ETFs prompted Lunde to retract his previous advice to increase Ether allocation to capitalize on the ETF hype. Lunde noted that increased institutional access to crypto investments will only generate buying pressure if there is substantial unsatiated demand, which is not the case for Ether at the moment.
In the report section titled "More chop ahead," Lunde explained that most of the crypto market lacks significant short-term price catalysts and is likely to continue trading sideways in the near future. Lunde sees this landscape as favorable for Bitcoin, with potential ETF approval on the horizon early next year and a halving event scheduled for mid-April.
Lunde concluded, "The gravitational pull in crypto for the time being stays in BTC, with a promising event horizon down the line, still favoring aggressive accumulation."
Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at eToro, shared a similar outlook for crypto assets, although with a slightly more bearish sentiment. Laidler pointed to current macro trends, particularly the Federal Reserve's actions and oil prices, as potential factors that could affect the prices of major crypto assets like Bitcoin. Rising oil prices, in particular, could have a cooling effect on market sentiment.
