Bloomberg-inspired report on the cryptocurrency sector and expert outlooks:
Danish macroeconomist Henrik Zeberg has ramped up his warnings about a looming market downturn, forecasting that
Ethereum
(ETH) could surpass
Bitcoin
(BTC) during a possible "blow-off top" before a significant correction. Zeberg draws parallels between the current environment and past speculative bubbles, such as those during the steam engine and internet booms, pointing out that crypto and equities are now trading at 2.5 times their intrinsic value. "Including crypto in the total market cap, we’re at 250%—almost twice the level seen during the dot-com bubble in 2000," he remarked in a
U.Today report
. Despite his bearish stance, Zeberg anticipates a surge of exuberance before a severe recession sparks a collapse in crypto, according to a
Phemex report
.
Recent ETF activity reveals contrasting patterns for the top two cryptocurrencies. On October 23, Bitcoin ETFs attracted $20.33 million in new investments, with BlackRock’s IBIT leading at $107.78 million, while Ethereum ETFs experienced $127.51 million in withdrawals. This comes after a $477 million inflow into Bitcoin ETFs on October 21, highlighting shifting investor sentiment, as reported by
Coinpedia report
. Bitcoin hovered around $111,300, struggling to build on its "Uptober" rally and sitting 2.3% below its monthly opening price, according to a
CryptoNews article
. Meanwhile, Ethereum dropped 6.5% to $3,957 since the start of the month, though technical signals point to a possible recovery.
Ethereum’s recent price movements have sparked differing opinions. The asset formed a "triple bottom" near $3,750–$3,800, signaling robust support, CryptoNews reported. Institutional interest in Ethereum derivatives reached unprecedented levels, with $9 billion in options open interest and 48,600 futures contracts on CME, according to a
Yahoo Finance analysis
. However, ETF redemptions persisted, with Fidelity’s FETH seeing $77.04 million in outflows, as Coinpedia highlighted. Glassnode’s on-chain data shows major
ETH
holders accumulating, which could pave the way for a move above $4,000, CryptoNews also noted.
Bitcoin is also facing hurdles as Halloween approaches, with $31 billion in options contracts set to expire—almost twice last month’s record. Deribit alone has $14 billion in contracts expiring, including $2 billion in put options betting on Bitcoin dropping to $100,000, a
Yahoo Finance report
stated. Experts caution that such large expiries often lead to sharp volatility, with significant price swings likely within 24–72 hours after expiration. Bitcoin is currently trading near $109,866, with bulls aiming for a retest of $115,000, according to a
Crypto.News article
.
Zooming out, institutional appetite for Ethereum continues to grow. Approval of a spot-ETH ETF could draw substantial inflows, with the value of tokenized real-world assets on Ethereum projected to rise from $8.6 billion to $25 billion by early 2025, a
TradingView note
observed. Despite ongoing ETH outflows, prices have remained steady, indicating minimal downward pressure as investors transfer tokens to private wallets. At the same time, Bitcoin’s "Uptober" performance is still in question, though historical trends show average October gains of 20% during bull markets, according to CryptoNews data.
