Ethereum's Worst October Since 2018: $1.35 Billion Leaves Ether ETFs While Bitcoin Funds Turn Positive

October 2026 will go down as a month of two very different stories in crypto funds. Bitcoin's spot exchange-traded funds fought their way back into positive territory for the month, while Ethereum's spot funds suffered one of the worst months on record. The split matters because it shows institutional money is not treating "crypto" as one trade any more. Right now, it is picking Bitcoin and leaving Ethereum — and the size of that gap is hard to ignore.

The headline numbers

United States spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $137 million of net inflows on October 28, taking their three-session total to roughly $424 million and flipping October's monthly balance to about $111 million of net inflows, according to Cointelegraph's October 29 reporting. That followed three straight days of inflows — $110.3 million on October 26, $176 million on October 27 and $137.3 million on October 28, per Farside Investors data cited in market coverage. BlackRock's IBIT alone took in about $136 million of the October 28 total.

Ethereum moved the other way. United States spot Ether ETFs saw about $21 million of outflows on the same day, and October's cumulative net outflows swelled to about $1.35 billion. That is the second-largest monthly outflow on record for the funds, behind only November 2025 at $1.42 billion, and it leaves October only about $78 million short of that record with two trading days left. Outflows were reported on 17 of October's first 20 trading days through October 28, according to SoSoValue data. The heaviest single day was October 6, when $201.89 million left the funds.

A price story that matches the flows

Ether traded at about $2,299 on October 30, according to an Investing.com reading cited that day, with a market capitalisation of about $282.70 billion and 24-hour volume of about $11.27 billion. Other readings put it near $2,328 to $2,330, down about 13.6% for the month so far. Either way, the direction is the same: Ethereum is on course for its weakest October since 2018, when it fell 15.5%. It has closed seven of its previous eleven Octobers higher, which makes this month's slide stand out even more.

Bitcoin, by contrast, was trading near $77,700 to $78,629 on October 30 after bouncing from an intraday low of about $76,301, having slipped below $80,000 in the wake of the Binance security breach. The breach itself is estimated at about $6.3 billion of affected assets, with about $3 billion frozen, and it clearly rattled the whole market. Yet Bitcoin's ETF flows still turned positive for the month — a sign that fund buyers were willing to add on weakness in Bitcoin even as they kept selling Ethereum.

Why Ethereum is losing the flow battle

Three forces are working against Ether at the same time. First, the flow trend itself has become self-reinforcing: weekly Ether ETF outflows narrowed from about $542.1 million in the week of October 5 to about $320 million the following week and about $220.6 million in the week beginning October 19, but they never turned positive. A streak of red days tells allocators to wait, and waiting keeps the streak alive.

Second, the upgrade timetable slipped. The Ethereum Foundation postponed the planned Glamsterdam activation on the Hoodi testnet on October 22, four days before its scheduled October 26 launch, after compatibility concerns were found. The Foundation says no action is required from mainnet users or holders, and the delay is a testnet scheduling matter — but for fund managers already on the fence, a delayed upgrade is one more reason not to buy yet.

Third, old money is moving. On-chain trackers flagged more than ten large transfers from long-idle wallets between October 5 and 29, moving over $140 million in ETH in total. The latest came on October 29, when a wallet idle for three years sent its full 2,119 ETH balance to Coinbase. Long-dormant supply waking up does not prove a sale, but markets read it as potential supply, and it lands at exactly the moment buyers are thinnest.

What the buyers are doing instead

Not everyone is selling. BitMine bought 10,452 ETH in the week through October 25 and held 6,051,933 ETH, equivalent to about 4.95% of supply, according to data cited in market coverage. One wallet tracked by Lookonchain sold 246.25 BTC for about $20.6 million on October 23 to buy 8,286 ETH, and over the previous eleven days had swapped 1,917 BTC for 64,545 ETH. Exchange reserves also fell by about 170,000 ETH to 14.88 million over 48 hours around October 23, per CryptoQuant — supply leaving exchanges is usually read as holders moving coins to cold storage rather than preparing to sell.

That is the real tension in this market: labelled sellers (the ETFs) are supplying steady volume, while quieter buyers are absorbing it off-exchange. CryptoQuant's net unrealised profit/loss gauge sitting near zero adds to the picture — most of the market's paper gains are gone, which means the remaining holders are closer to breakeven and less likely to panic-sell, but also have less cushion if prices fall further.

Levels that matter now

For Ethereum, traders are watching support near $2,282, with a weekly range of about $2,267 to $2,479 flagged in one outlook, and resistance at $2,425 from the 20-day moving average. A break under $2,295 would be an early sign of another leg down, while reclaiming $2,400 would be the first major sign of strength. For Bitcoin, support sits near $74,886 to $76,000, with resistance near $80,000 and a supply zone between $81,500 and $82,500. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index was reported at 30, in Fear territory, on October 30, against 51 (Neutral) the previous day — sentiment flipped fast, and that usually marks either capitulation or the start of a longer grind.

What to watch next

First, the daily Ether ETF print: a single green day is not a trend, but two or three in a row would break the pattern that has defined October. Second, whether Bitcoin's monthly flow balance holds positive into month-end — if it does, the "Bitcoin only" rotation story gains credibility. Third, any revised date for the Glamsterdam testnet activation, which would remove one overhang. And fourth, the United States midterm elections next week, which traders expect to bring thin liquidity and headline spikes.

The lesson of October is not that Ethereum is broken. It is that institutional flows have become the marginal price-setter for both assets, and right now they are voting very differently on the two largest cryptocurrencies. Until Ether's fund flows turn, every rally in ETH will be fighting an uphill flow battle that Bitcoin no longer faces.

Read more on Zimbuck: https://zimbuck.com/pages/zimbucknews and join the discussion at https://zimbuck.com/groups/zimbuckmarketnews . Related reading on the site: https://zimbuck.com/blogs/483/Blockchain-Goes-Multi-Chain-Coinbase-Brings-Ripple-s-RLUSD-to

FAQ
Why did Bitcoin ETFs turn positive while Ether ETFs kept losing money? Bitcoin funds took in about $424 million over three sessions to October 28, flipping October positive, while Ether funds lost about $1.35 billion in the month, with outflows on 17 of the first 20 trading days.
Is Ethereum's October drop really the worst since 2018? Yes, on the reported numbers: ETH is down about 13.6% for October so far, against a 15.5% fall in October 2018, making it the weakest October since then.
Does the Glamsterdam delay affect my ETH? No, according to the Ethereum Foundation: the postponement concerns a future testnet configuration, and no action is required from mainnet users or holders.
What level would signal Ethereum is stabilising? Analysts cited here point to reclaiming $2,400 as the first major sign of strength, with $2,282 as near-term support.

This article is market news and general information only, not financial advice.