Ether traded below $3,100 on Sunday amid a broader pullback in digital assets. The token was recently close to $3,066 at 21:36 UTC, down 3.4% over the last 24 hours. It briefly fell through the $3,100 level on Bitstamp around 16 UTC, marking its first break below that threshold since Nov. 4, based on data from TradingView.
Timothy Peterson, an investment manager and digital asset researcher at Cane Island Alternative Advisors, said spot ether ETFs had net outflows in four of the past five weeks, totaling about 7% of cost-based capital invested in the products. He said bitcoin ETFs saw about a 4% pullback over the same period, a smaller share that he believes indicates investors currently view ether as the riskier asset.
Cost-based capital represents the total amount initially committed to an ETF, separated from gains or losses accumulated after purchase. The measurement reflects how much capital long-term participants have contributed to a fund. When redemptions rise as a share of this original investment base, analysts interpret it as an erosion of conviction among incumbents rather than short-term position changes.
Because the metric focuses on investors’ initial commitments, it can provide a clearer reading of sentiment than overall inflows and outflows data, which can be affected by week-to-week volatility.
Peterson noted that a higher proportion of ether’s cost-based capital has been withdrawn in recent weeks, pointing to deeper liquidation among long-term participants compared to bitcoin ETF activity.
