Timothy Peterson said ether ETFs saw withdrawals equal to about 7% of cost-basis capital over the past five weeks.
Ether ETH$3,061.15 traded below $3,100 on Sunday during a broader pullback in digital assets. The token was recently near $3,066 at 9:36 p.m. UTC, down 3.4% over the past 24 hours. It briefly fell through the $3,100 level on Bitstamp at about 4 p.m. UTC, marking its first break beneath 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 posted net outflows in four of the past five weeks, totaling roughly 7% of the cost-basis capital invested in the products. He said bitcoin ETFs saw about 4% withdrawn over the same period, a smaller share that he believes indicates investors currently view ether as the riskier asset.
Cost-basis capital represents the total amount of money originally committed to an ETF, separate from gains or losses accumulated after purchase. The measure reflects how much foundational 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 established holders rather than short-term positioning changes.
Because the metric focuses on investors’ initial commitments, it can provide a clearer read on sentiment than headline inflow and outflow data, which can be affected by week-to-week volatility.
Peterson noted that a higher proportion of ether’s cost-basis capital has been pulled out in recent weeks, pointing to deeper unwinding among long-term participants compared with bitcoin ETF activity.
