Bitcoin vs Ethereum: Which Is Safer to Own in a Crypto Crash?
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Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) are both declining sharply, with Ethereum dropping faster. Currently, Bitcoin is priced at $65,906, while Ethereum stands at $1,841, following 24-hour losses of 4.3% and 5.1%, respectively.
Bitcoin is the older, larger cryptocurrency, with a capped supply of 21 million coins. In contrast, Ethereum offers a more flexible platform and provides staking rewards. So, in the ongoing contest between Bitcoin and Ethereum, which cryptocurrency has held its value better during market crashes?
Ethereum Is Declining Faster Than Bitcoin in the Current Sell-Off
Over the past week, Bitcoin has fallen by 13%, while Ethereum has dropped by 17.6%. Over the last 30 days, Bitcoin has fallen 20.5%, while Ethereum has fallen 25.3%. Year-to-date losses follow the same pattern, with Bitcoin down 24.7% and Ethereum down 38%, highlighting that Ethereum’s losses are growing over longer periods.
Bitcoin is currently trading 47.7% below its all-time high of $126,080 reached on October 6, 2025, while Ethereum is 62.8% off its peak of $4,946 from August 24, 2025. Bitcoin’s low marks its lowest point since August 19, and Ethereum’s is its lowest since August 3.
Forced selling accelerated the drop, with CoinGlass reporting $637 million in Bitcoin liquidations versus $257 million in Ethereum liquidations over 24 hours. Bitcoin has more liquidated positions due to its larger market size, while Ethereum’s steeper percentage decline reflects a lack of buyers stepping in, which is a pattern we also saw when traders over-leveraged in a falling market earlier this month.
Ethereum Underperformed Bitcoin in the 2018 and 2022 Crashes
In 2018, Bitcoin fell 82.8%, dropping from a January high of $18,578 to a December low of $3,189. Over the same period, Ethereum plummeted 94.8%, falling from $1,570 to $82. Both cryptocurrencies bottomed out in December 2018, but Ethereum lost far more value.
Bitcoin was also the first to rebound, recovering its 2017 peak by December 2020. In contrast, Ethereum’s December 2020 monthly close of $744 was still below its January 2018 high of $1,570.
In 2022, Ethereum lagged again. Bitcoin fell 77.3%, from a November 2021 high of $68,770 to a November 2022 low of $15,598, then surpassed that peak again, hitting $73,628 in March 2024. Ethereum found its low earlier, at $897 in June 2022, but didn’t reach a new all-time high until August 2025, trailing behind Bitcoin once more.
The current crash mirrors this trend. Bitcoin’s one-year low of $58,566 was recorded on June 30, while Ethereum hit $1,566 on June 25. Bitcoin now trades 12.5% above its low, whereas Ethereum is 17.6% above its own. However, Ethereum remains well below its peak, and both still have room to recover.
Ethereum Experiences Greater Volatility, and Staking Delays Exits
Daily price fluctuations indicate that Ethereum is more volatile. From October 1 to November 13, Bitcoin’s daily returns had a standard deviation of 2.1% compared to Ethereum’s 2.8%. Bitcoin saw a maximum daily drop of 5%, while Ethereum’s worst day featured a 7.3% decline. Between November 4 and November 10, Ethereum fell 15% from its peak, while Bitcoin fell 7.9%.
Bitcoin also benefits from a deeper market. With a market cap of $1.33 trillion and a 24-hour trading volume of $36.2 billion, Bitcoin significantly outpaces Ethereum, which has a market cap of $225 billion and a volume of $13.6 billion. As such, Bitcoin sellers generally find more willing buyers.
Wall Street has made both cryptocurrencies available through spot ETFs that trade alongside S&P 500 funds, including the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (NYSEARCA: BTC) and the Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF (NYSEARCA: ETH). The Ethereum fund’s SEC filings highlight a staking-enabled structure.
Currently, about 36.3% of Ethereum’s supply is staked, where holders lock their coins to help secure the network in return for rewards paid in more Ethereum. Unlike Bitcoin, which does not offer staking income, Ethereum’s rewards can pose a challenge in a falling market, as holders receive rewards in a coin losing value. Additionally, unstaking can create long exit queues when many holders try to exit at once.
Bitcoin Has Proven Safer in Every Major Crash Since 2018
Overall, Bitcoin has proven to be the safer choice in a crypto crash. It has experienced smaller declines and faster recoveries in both 2018 and 2022, and it is falling less in the current market turmoil. Over five years, Bitcoin has gained 3.2% while Ethereum has dropped by 59.8%.
However, Ethereum’s larger price swings could lead to significant gains during a market rebound. After the 2018 lows, Bitcoin rose about 21.5 times to its 2021 peak, while Ethereum skyrocketed about 58 times. If Bitcoin holds above the June low of $58,566, Ethereum may lead a recovery, as it did previously. But if it breaches that June low, Ethereum could face a more severe decline again.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
