As Ether’s price has struggled in the first quarter of 2025, a US-based investment adviser firm, Two Prime, has dropped support for ETH and adopted a Bitcoin-only strategy.

After lending $1.5 billion in loans both in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) over the past 15 months, Two Prime decided to ditch ETH to focus solely on BTC asset management and lending, the firm announced on May 1.

“ETH’s statistical trading behavior, value proposition, and community culture have failed beyond a point that is worth engaging,” Two Primes stated.

The firm’s shift to a Bitcoin-only approach comes as ETH has lost 45% of its value year-to-date, with some optimists speculating that ETH is potentially close to the bottom and reversing its negative trend soon.

“Ether no longer trades predictably”

“As an algorithmic trading firm, we value data more than narratives,” Two Primes said, adding that the “data suggests ETH has fundamentally changed.”

In addition to de-correlating from Bitcoin, Ether has become no longer predictable, Two Primes argued, adding:

“It trades now like a memecoin rather than a predictable asset. Even during the turbulence of Q1 2025, Bitcoin remained within its fundamental behavior, whereas ETH saw several multi-standard deviation moves.”

Two Primes then went on to say that such conditions “create a headache” for both algorithmic trading and ETH-back lending as the asset no longer behaves predictably, “even by the high volatility expectations of digital asset markets.”

Founded in 2019 by Alexander Blum and Marc Fleury, Two Prime is an investment advisory firm registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm has been offering trading and lending services for both BTC and ETH for the past six years.

Community fires back: ETH bottom signal

Two Prime’s critical remarks about Ether were quick to trigger responses from the community, with many seeing the message as another bottom signal for the cryptocurrency.

“What a retarded essay statement,” one market observer wrote on X, citing the high volatility of the S&P 500, which dropped 4.7% YTD.

Source: SEMB

“Never even heard of them. Seems irrelevant,” another commentator said, expressing doubt on whether the community should rely on Two Prime’s shifting approach to Ether.

“If this isn’t a bottom signal for ETH idk [I don’t know] what is,” another poster speculated, joining the many expecting ETH price to bounce following a downtrend cycle.

Who else ditched ETH in the past months?

Two Primes also mentioned the weak performance of Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), highlighting that BTC ETF buying has outpaced ETH by almost 24 times. 

“The failure of ETH’s ETF creates a reflexive loop whereby institutions like BlackRock dedicate fewer resources to their promotion and sale. BTC has found the mainstream while ETH has floundered,” the firm stated.

Related: Vitalik Buterin outlines vision as Ethereum ecosystem addresses hit new high

Despite Ether ETFs seeing low performance, Ether is still the biggest altcoin for crypto ETFs in terms of assets under management (AUM), far outpacing others like Solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP).

According to the latest update from CoinShares, Ether-based exchange-traded products had $9.2 billion in AUM by the end of last week, while Solana and XRP followed with $1.4 billion and $1 billion, respectively.

Crypto ETP flows by asset (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinShares

Following approval from the US SEC in May 2024, spot Ether ETFs saw a slow start in 2024, with performance losing ground compared to the massive spot Bitcoin ETF debut.

Amid low investor demand, some issuers like VanEck ceased trading futures Ether ETFs, while WisdomTree withdrew its Ethereum Trust ETF proposal in September 2024. In March 2025, ARK liquidated its futures ETFs for both Ether and Bitcoin.

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Opinion by: Chris Jenkins, adviser to Pocket Network

Tim Berners-Lee’s vision of the World Wide Web is dead. Instead of an open and accessible global information system, the web is controlled by centralized global data conglomerates, which don’t just restrict free speech but also monetize your data as a price of entry. Web2 firms have built walled gardens with massive information asymmetry between companies and users.

Blockchain-based decentralized tech challenges the status quo, offering an alternative to Web2’s closed-source infrastructure. 

It enables developers and engineers to build a censorship-resistant and accessible open-data web to champion the cause of free speech. Open-source technology creates a paradigmatic shift in a fair and inclusive internet where centralized web companies won’t dictate the terms.

A vision deferred

In 1989, Berners-Lee’s invention created a virtual space for collaboration, sharing and learning from one another. The web’s first iteration was based on openness, where anyone could contribute, access information, work together, and enjoy the same opportunities.

The internet is no longer free in 2025. Capital’s brute force has emboldened centralized companies to exercise authoritarian control over data and information flows.

Unfortunately, these companies have acquired their power and resources from unaware users who unknowingly contributed to their capital accumulation strategies. Web2 companies surreptitiously collect data from users without fair compensation and use that as a weapon to control user behavior.

Corporations harness user data to train opaque algorithms and deploy information “discoverability” to shape users’ beliefs and emotions. This practice is visible mainly on centralized social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and X, with multiple scandals and pending litigations eroding user trust.

For example, in June 2024, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, received 11 complaints from European Union members. The complaints concerned using personal data like posts and images to train Meta’s AI models without consent, violating EU privacy laws.

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The Cambridge Analytica scandal demonstrated how companies mine data to shape political perspectives and election outcomes. These companies also construct pre-determined narratives and shape market behavior by promoting or subverting curated reports, sometimes shaping public perspectives on health and economic data.

Under its Digital Markets Act, the European Commission has initiated a noncompliance investigation into Apple, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet’s practices. Meta has also incurred a $1.3 billion fine for failing to comply with privacy regulations.

In this environment, “free speech” remains a far-fetched dream because the entire tech stack is hostile to accessibility and openness. To realize Berners-Lee’s vision, apps must use a decentralized tech stack and be built from the ground up on an open architecture.

Make the internet free (again)

An app’s tech stack consists of its front and back ends, data storage and Content Delivery Network (CDN). Web2 platforms depend on a centralized tech stack that puts free speech at risk, while most blockchain-powered apps leverage a censorship-resistant decentralized tech stack with high uptime.

Some decentralized applications (DApps) build their front end on a decentralized interface. Most of their back end, however, is still stuck on centralized data infrastructure.

For example, despite their censorship vulnerabilities and single failure points, decentralized applications (DApps) often use centralized cloud providers and data hosting platforms. These types of attack vectors make projects like Tornado Cash subject to the changing moods of state actors.

Shifting to open-source protocols for distributed data storage like InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and Filecoin upholds the free speech philosophy on DApps. These protocols offer a censorship-resistant, tamper-proof storage facility that remains accessible without arbitrary outages.

DApps also use centralized remote procedure call (RPC) providers to supply data from the back-end to the front-end interface, especially across multiple networks. But any outage or attack, like the one on X, can lead to downtime, inaccuracies, data gaps and disconnected information flows. If it doesn’t seem like much, remember downtime or inaccuracies in decentralized finance can cost billions.

Decentralized protocols avoid these situations by transforming data accessibility and transfer channels with independent node operators. Data queries are distributed across the network, eliminating any single point of failure and providing uninterrupted data availability. More importantly, it safeguards free speech rights because no single node can block or obstruct data flow, and the network remains accessible even if several nodes go offline.

CDNs, yet another crucial component for serving user requests, can become inaccessible due to market pressure or political influence. Opaque decisions from closed-door meetings dictate data flows on CDNs without any certainty in information flows.

Start with the basics

Decentralized protocols remove the need for centralized decision-making by enabling apps to directly access data without intermediaries. These permissionless protocols connect open-source data and service providers with users and applications, removing human interaction and associated manufactured problems.

Blockchain-powered platforms lay the foundation for a decentralized tech stack that promotes free speech and isn’t controlled by centralized Web2 companies. These permissionless protocols build an open-source world and return the internet to Berners-Lee’s vision of a global and accessible network.

Opinion by: Chris Jenkins, adviser to Pocket Network.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin’s recovery to its all-time high may be threatened by rising recession fears, which could ease if the United States and China begin tariff negotiations this month, research analysts told Cointelegraph.

Appetite for global risk assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) may take another hit, with analysts from Apollo Global Management predicting a recession by the summer.

“Apollo predicting Summer Recession: Sharpest decline in earnings outlook since 2020,” cross-asset analyst Samantha LaDuc wrote in an April 26 X post.

The progress on the tariff negotiations may be the most significant factor impacting a potential recession and Bitcoin’s price trajectory, according to Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen.

Source: Samantha LaDuc

“May is seen as pivotal as Chinese shipments reach the US’s shores, and exemptions on some tariff categories such as auto parts and sub-USD-800 shipments from China/ Hong Kong expire,” Barthere told Cointelegraph, adding that a lack of negotiations in May could lead to an economic recession and “double-digit losses” for Bitcoin.

However, this is the least likely scenario, since neither China nor the US “ has an economic interest in the interruption of bilateral trade,” Barthere said, adding:

“Given this, the main tariff scenario is for the US reaching deals or at least ‘agreements in principle’ with its main trade partners, probably settling around the 10% reciprocal tariff ‘floor’.”

If that scenario plays out and trade tensions ease in May, Bitcoin is likely to revisit its all-time high, Barthere said.

The US has “proactively reached out to China through multiple channels,” for signaling its openness for tariff negotiations, Reuters reported on May 1, citing unnamed sources who spoke to state-affiliated Chinese media platform Yuyuan Tantian.

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Bitcoin may rally despite recession

While most analysts hope to see trade negotiations in May alleviate economic concerns, Bitcoin may see more upside even in the face of a potential recession.

“Initially, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies may experience volatility, dropping alongside risk assets like stocks due to investor sell-offs,” Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain adviser, told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Historical data, such as Bitcoin’s recovery post-2020 recession, suggests it could rebound, especially if seen as a hedge against inflation.”

“In stagflation (high inflation and slow growth), Bitcoin, often compared to gold, may perform well, attracting investors seeking value preservation. Yet, its increased correlation with the stock market, particularly tech stocks, introduces uncertainty,” said Lian, adding that crypto investors should continue monitoring economic policy shifts to gauge market direction.

BTC/USD, 1-week chart, 2020-2021. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

However, Bitcoin’s increasing correlation with tech stocks adds uncertainty to that outlook. Following the COVID-19 crash in March 2020, Bitcoin surged more than 1,050%, climbing from $6,000 to an all-time high of $69,000 in November 2021. That rally came after the Federal Reserve launched its $4 trillion asset purchase program in March 2020.

Related: Bitcoin to $1M by 2029 fueled by ETF and gov’t demand — Bitwise exec

Other industry watchers remain concerned by the crypto market’s response to economic stagnation.

“If the analysts are correct about the recession (which is certainly not guaranteed), crypto markets will likely decline alongside broader risk-on assets and equities,” according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder and chief operating officer of blockchain oracle firm RedStone.

Kazmierczak said April’s “Liberation Day tariffs and trucking slowdown could create economic contagion that historically hits speculative assets hardest.”

“While crypto’s growing institutional adoption introduces some uncertainty, it’s not enough to overcome the fundamental risk-on classification that still dominates market behavior,” he added.

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