Investing.com -- Ethereum's cryptocurrency, Ether, continues to lose momentum against rival tokens. This decline comes amid the excitement generated by former President Donald Trump's venture into the speculative segment of the digital assets market.
The Ether-to-Bitcoin price ratio, a measure of the second-largest token's performance against the largest, dropped to its lowest level since 2021 on Monday, according to data analyzed by Bloomberg.
During the same period, Bitcoin reached a record high of $109,241. Meanwhile, Solana's native token, a blockchain that competes with Ethereum, achieved new highs over the weekend.
The surge in Solana's value was largely driven by two memecoins introduced on its blockchain by Trump and his wife Melania leading up to his inauguration. Trump's memecoin saw intense trading activity over the weekend, reaching a market capitalization of $15 billion before experiencing a sharp drop, as per data from CoinMarketCap.
The pro-crypto stance adopted by the Republicans has benefitted most major digital assets since Trump's victory over Democrat Kamala Harris in November.
Memecoins, often represented by joke tokens like Dogecoin, are highly volatile cryptocurrencies with little inherent value. They can record substantial gains if they garner the attention of social media users, but are equally susceptible to rapid crashes.
Solana, self-proclaimed as an "Ethereum killer," has become the preferred network for memecoin launches. The price ratio of its token against Ether reached a record high on Sunday, as speculators invested heavily in the Trump coins.
While other cryptocurrencies are setting records, Ether remains about 30% below its 2021 peak. Over the past 12 months, the token has increased by 39%, compared to gains of 156% and 180% for Bitcoin and Solana, respectively.
The comparatively subdued demand for Ether has caused concern among investors. Over the past three months, a group of 12 Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US saw a net inflow of over $17 billion, while similar Ether-investing products only attracted $3 billion, according to Bloomberg data.
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