You won’t be embarrassed to hold ETH to describe as Crypto’s second largest asset and traditional investors Defi Intuition Gateway. But mainstream adoptions require growth talk and for this year, ETH (please be kind) can’t lead.
ETH sits in 16th place on the Coindesk 20 YTD Performance Leaderboard. 53%. Going back a year ago, the numbers are similar: 15th place and down 50%. Its market capitalization is much lower than XRP, so both are expected to be limited by the initial Coindesk 20 reconstruction.
The rest of Coindesk 20 as of April 20, 2025 and
The ETH issue is a small number of news in the industry, but for us as an index and product builder of “5%-ers”, it asks for the question: special? Prominent sources can take you so far. ETH continues to dominate the on-chain category (even before L2 added), and is perhaps Crypto’s second best brand name. There are even thoughtful ideas about the ETH final state as an important supporting component of our blockchain future. I’ve heard expressions like, “Ethereum will become a clearing house for defi.”
But mainstream adoption requires a growth story.
Over the past few weeks, we have observed that Bitcoin has shown impressive resilience in vulnerable global markets. This week hasn’t been an exception. As I pointed out last week, expectations for high inflation are now reflected in Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, which will help support the move towards Bitcoin.
However, Crypto Market relies on Bitcoin to outweigh prices, which hopes the digital asset class will grow. ETH can reassert its leadership position, as it did temporarily in the weeks following the US election. Otherwise, Coindesk 20 investors are exposed to much of the ETH competition.
ETH performance at 4pm on April 20th
Ether controls defi (coindesk index)
