Ether (ETH) has been the talk of the crypto community over the last few weeks. Investors are seeing renewed interest and confidence in the cryptocurrency’s potential after almost writing it off for this cycle.

While the hype continues to build, analysts at the market intelligence platform have identified signs of increasing selling pressure. This indicates that more investors are gearing up to realize profits as ETH keeps up its positive momentum.

ETH Outperforms BTC

Ether has entered a bullish cycle against bitcoin (BTC), rallying around its all-time high (ATH) over the past three days. On August 14, ETH climbed to $4,743, its highest level since November 2021. The price was just inches away from its ATH of $4,891, per data from CoinMarketCap. At press time, the asset’s value had declined slightly to $4,500.

As ETH tries to record a new high, its relative price against BTC – measured by the ETH/BTC price ratio – has climbed above its 365-day moving average. Such movements have historically signaled a bullish cycle for ETH. This time, it has confirmed a new leg up for the asset against BTC.

In addition, crypto investors are showing their preference for ETH through spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) allocations. Spot Ethereum ETFs are recording more inflows compared to their Bitcoin counterparts. The ETH/BTC ETFs Holding Ratio is currently at 0.15, a significant rise from 0.05 three months ago.

Moreover, the increase in traders’ exposure to ETH more than BTC is evident in Ethereum’s open interest. Analysts found that the open interest of ETH relative to BTC on crypto exchanges has risen from 0.57 to 0.78. This also shows that traders in the perpetual futures market are more invested in ETH than BTC.

Signs of Selling Pressure

Furthermore, ETH is seeing a higher spot trading volume compared to bitcoin. Last week, the ratio of ether’s volume relative to BTC spiked to 1.66, the highest since June 2017. ETH witnessed a similar growth between 2019 and 2021 when it outperformed BTC by 4x.

Within the last four consecutive weeks, ether’s spot trading volume has surpassed that of BTC by billions, with the most recent being $10 billion.

Despite this commendable growth, ETH may soon face high pressure on the sell-side. The asset’s relative price against BTC is nearing overvalued levels. Daily ETH inflows into exchanges have spiked, exceeding those of BTC. These signals suggest that ETH may face headwinds in the near term.