When the Bitcoin price eventually lost the $100,000 level in the first quarter, the value of Ethereum had already fallen close to $2,000. While the premier cryptocurrency has reached a new all-time high in recent days, the “king of altcoins” faces significant resistance around $2,800.
Aleman defined correlation in his post:
Correlation is a statistical measure of the relationship between two variables. In financial analysis, it helps determine whether two assets tend to move in the same direction (positive correlation), in opposite directions (negative correlation), or independently (near zero).
Historically, Bitcoin and Ethereum have always maintained a strong positive correlation — usually above 0.7. This long-term trend explains why most of BTC’s movements were often mirrored by the price of Ethereum over the past few years.
Aleman, however, noted that a decoupling has occurred between the top two assets since start of this year. Data from the BTC-Alts Correlation Matrix (Yearly) shows that the correlation was 0.63 on January 1, 2025 before falling to 0.05 by May 22, 2025.
The on-chain analyst said:
Portfolio models, risk strategies, and return forecasts must now adapt. This may also reflect how Ethereum is becoming driven by its own internal factors—like protocol upgrades, regulation, or DeFi—indicating growing independence.
As of this writing, Bitcoin and Ethereum are valued at around $107,450 and $2,507, respectively. While the BTC price climbed by more than 5% this past week, ETH’s value is up by less than half of that in the same period.
