ETH/BTC Ratio Hits 10-Week High After SEC DeFi Guidance

The ETH/BTC ratio reached a 10-week high after April 13 SEC staff guidance on decentralized finance and Bitmine’s purchase of 71,524 ETH, breaking a descending trendline that had been in place since August 2025. A daily close above that trendline marked the first technical breakout in months.

On price charts the pair is trading above its 50-day and 100-day exponential moving averages, both near 0.0310, which are acting as dynamic support. The gap between the two averages has narrowed.

The SEC staff statement on April 13 clarified conditions under which DeFi front-ends and wallet interfaces can operate without broker-dealer registration, including no custody of assets and neutral fee structures.

XWIN Research pointed to on-chain indicators, writing, “On-chain data supports this shift. Active addresses are trending upward, indicating renewed network usage. Meanwhile, the Coinbase Premium Gap is improving, suggesting a recovery in U.S.-driven demand, often linked to institutional flows.”

Corporate accumulation was visible on chain. Mining company Bitmine added 71,524 ETH on April 13 and 279,296 ETH over the past 30 days. Bitmine now holds about 4.87 million ETH, representing more than 4% of the circulating supply, according to on-chain records.

Futures-market metrics were mixed. Global open interest in Ether futures reached $16.37 billion on April 14, above its 14-day average, while aggregate funding rates across exchanges were slightly negative at -0.0013%. On Binance, open interest rose to $6.04 billion, a 10.47% increase from the previous day, and funding rates on that exchange turned positive at 0.015%.

Crypto analyst GugaOnChain wrote, “We face an extreme imbalance. With 40% of global ETH Open Interest on Binance, the fuel for a violent move is ready.”

Traders and analysts cited regulatory guidance, rising on-chain activity, corporate accumulation and concentrated futures interest as factors behind Ether’s recent strength against Bitcoin.