Week of 9 September 2024: Bitcoin gains 7.77% while Ether adds only 0.82%
When BTC and ETH rise in the same week but by very different amounts, what does the gap tell us about the quality of the move, and what remains unmeasurable?
BTC rose from 54,869.95 to 59,132.00 (+7.77%) and ETH from 2,297.30 to 2,316.10 (+0.82%). Hourly correlation was 0.90, yet the ETH/BTC ratio fell 6.45%. Dollar volume ran below the prior 12-week average for both, 0.82 times for BTC and 0.56 for ETH.
What the data shows. Both assets set their weekly lows on Monday and highs on Friday, so the week read as a steady recovery. BTC's low of 54,591.96 came at 05:00 UTC on Monday 9 September and its high of 60,625.00 at 22:00 UTC on Friday 13 September, a range of 11.05%. Friday 13 September was the best day for both assets: BTC rose 4.07% and ETH 3.28%. BTC's largest hourly move, +2.07%, came in the hour starting 15:00 UTC on Friday 13 September. Sunday 15 September was the worst day for both (BTC -1.44%, ETH -4.21%). BTC closed at 59,132.00, in the upper third of its weekly range (75.3%), while ETH closed at 2,316.10, in the lower third (22.5%). BTC's weekly return ranked at the 80th percentile of the 343 weeks on record; ETH's ranked at the 52nd.
What it does not show. The data records prices and volumes, not the reasons for the divergence. It does not identify who was buying or selling, whether the ETH shortfall reflected position changes elsewhere, or whether either asset's Friday high held.
What a careful desk would check. Volume ran below the prior twelve-week average for both assets (BTC 0.82 times, ETH 0.56), so the rebound came on lighter activity than usual. BTC still sat 19.63% below its 52-week high, and ETH 43.06% below. With BTC having been down in three of the prior four weeks, a desk would ask whether Friday's high survives a retest on comparable volume.
Ether against Bitcoin. The two moved very closely hour by hour (correlation 0.90), yet ETH lagged by 6.95 percentage points over the week and the ETH/BTC ratio fell 6.45%. This was a Bitcoin-led week, not a broad one.
What would change this reading
- If the ETH/BTC ratio keeps falling while BTC holds above its weekly close of 59,132.00, the divergence reads as rotation into BTC rather than a shared recovery.
- If later volume returns towards its prior 12-week average while BTC holds above its open of 54,869.95, the rebound gains support it lacked this week.
- If ETH trades below its weekly low of 2,272.80 while BTC holds above 54,591.96, the two-asset picture separates further and hedges tied to correlation weaken.
Terms
- percentile
- the share of past weeks with a lower value; the 80th percentile means 80% of the 343 recorded weeks were lower
- ETH/BTC ratio
- the price of one Ether expressed in Bitcoin; a falling ratio means Ether is losing value against Bitcoin
- close location
- where the week's closing price sits between the weekly low and high, as a percentage