Ethereum wins the group chat, loses the wallet: ETFs bleed $780M while FOMO runs wild 🚀

Crypto traders are flooding social media with bullish commentary on Ethereum, even as institutional investors have pulled more than $780 million from US Ethereum ETFs over the last 10 trading days. According to SoSoValue, Ethereum spot ETFs shed an additional $85.4 million on October 12, extending a withdrawal streak that began September 29. Bitcoin ETFs lost $65.4 million the same day, while XRP ETFs recorded zero net flows and held total assets of $1.55 billion.

The optimism around $ETH is showing up loudly online. Santiment data shows Ethereum now attracts 2.05 bullish social media comments for every bearish one across X, Reddit, and Telegram. That figure marks a sharp reversal from earlier this month, when Ethereum sat alongside XRP at the bottom of the sentiment rankings while Bitcoin enjoyed stronger optimism.

Bitcoin and XRP are now bearing the brunt of trader pessimism. $BTC's sentiment score has slipped to 0.82 after repeated failures to break $87,000 and a decline toward $81,000, with leveraged bullish traders liquidating $688.56 million in a single day. $XRP's sentiment sits at 0.92 following a weekly decline exceeding 9%, and the token has struggled to push above $1.40. "Ethereum is suddenly the crowd favorite…Bitcoin is seeing the opposite setup…XRP is also deep in FUD," Santiment analysts wrote.

Santiment framed the split as a contrarian signal worth watching. "From a contrarian perspective, BTC and XRP's fear is healthier than ETH's crowd excitement if prices begin recovering," the analysts wrote. Their argument: when bullish positioning crowds one side of the market, much of the easy buying may already be priced in, while widespread fear can leave more room for sentiment to lift.

Whether Ethereum's newfound popularity translates into real inflows now determines if the excitement can be sustained. With ETF withdrawals stretching past $780 million since late September and rival assets trading in deeper fear, Ethereum's next move will test whether the crowd has run ahead of the money.