Data Says HODL! People Are Trading Ethereum More, Bitcoin Less

Ether is trading at its highest since before the March coronavirus crash, but data suggests that investors have little interest in hodling the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Uploading findings using on-chain monitoring resource Glassnode on July 10, one trader noticed that Ether exchange balances remain high, while Bitcoin balances have dropped considerably.

"Ever since the Black Thursday crash, Bitcoin balances on crypto exchanges have been falling quite fast. On the other hand, Ethereum exchange balances continue to remain relatively stable," the trader summarized.

Coins on exchanges are more vulnerable but quicker to trade, suggesting that owners store them there to sell at short notice.

As Cointelegraph reported previously, BTC traders have shown a preference for saving in recent months, rather than selling or trading.

DeFi has sparked a token boom and associated trading, and as ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, ETH is required for transactions.

ETH would make a suitable "Home" asset for DeFi traders given its recent low volatility in the run-up to its fifth birthday.

ETH/BTC correlation has risen in the short term, while a longer trend has seen ETH remain fairly constant as a percentage of BTC price, data from Skew shows.

Among those forecasting a new alt gold rush is Peter Brandt, the trading stalwart who this week eyed ETH gains over BTC. "Most alts should gain on #bitcoin in near future," he summarized.

ETH once traded at almost $1,400 but has failed to recapture more than 20% of those levels since.