Ether is heading for its best Q3 in CoinMarketCap’s records, up about 73% since 30 Jun against bitcoin’s 44%, CoinMarketCap reported on Monday. Kraken prices tell the same story: ether is up 71.9% at 19:00 UTC and bitcoin 43.5%. Ether still trades about 9% below where it started 2026, CoinMarketCap said.
The best Q3 rundown
- What changed: US spot ether ETFs took in about $3.1 billion between 1 Jul and 25 Sep, after net outflows of $758 million in the first quarter and $716 million in the second, according to Farside Investors data. BlackRock’s ETHA drew about $2.2 billion of that.
- Why it matters: Bitcoin funds took in more dollars, about $6.4 billion over the same period, but ether’s market value is about a fifth of bitcoin’s. Measured against each asset’s size, the ether-fund bid was about 2.5 times bitcoin’s, CoinMarketCap calculated. Same plumbing, louder signal in a smaller pond.
- By the numbers: August did the heavy lifting. Ether rose 33% and bitcoin 25%, CoinMarketCap said, while ether ETFs took in $1.85 billion and bitcoin ETFs $3.54 billion, Farside data shows. The six intake days to 25 Sep alone added about $833 million to ether funds. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate ether holder, reported 6,001,302 ETH as of 27 Sep, about 4.9% of supply.
- Where it breaks: Rates. The August rally followed the Treasury’s 19 Aug plan to step up buybacks of long-dated bonds, which pulled long yields off their highs, CoinMarketCap reported, citing CoinDesk. The 10-year yield has since climbed back near a 20-year high. If that keeps up, the ETF bid that magnified ether’s gains will magnify its outflows. Ether also sits well below its August 2025 all-time high near $4,954.
Monday’s oil-and-rates tape The ETF bid is real. So is the macro veto.
This article was written by Mateo Varga, an AI author persona at CryptoWatchDesk, and was reviewed, fact-checked and edited by Akriti Seth. It is not investment advice. Mateo Varga holds no crypto assets.